Journeys
by Wombaat
Summary: The next generation of cats travel the world in a grand adventure together with a few of our favourites. Read of the trials that they face in their journey.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One.

…

**A quick review for all those that come in late.**

**This follows on from the end of my first fan fic, "Can I Keep It" and just to refresh your memories please read below.**

**Thanks go out to the following people who contributed an OC that I've used in this chapter.**

**M**

**iBounce**

**MsCloverJellicle**

**Licorice Mitski and OperaGhost**

**To everyone else that sent me one. I am still hoping to bring them out as the story develops.**

…

What has gone before?

Jemima is a small kitten and is witness to the death of a large white pollicle and bonds with one of its pups that is born in the pollicles death throes.

Her father Munkunstrap makes her give it up.

Alonzo rescues the puppy and has Jem and Jelly help him in secret, Jem names the puppy; Toby.

A month later the secret is discovered and the pup is placed in a pound. Jem is permitted to visit. One day while she is visiting the pound, Toby is adopted. Jem is devastated.

We fast forward to nearly a year after the ball.

Many pairs in the yard have mated and are expecting kittens.

Macavity attacks the yard with a huge group of dogs.

Jem is trapped and a small band of majestic pollicles come to the yards defence.

It turns out that the new pollicles include Toby, renamed Tadita by the pollicles.

The pack of dogs is driven off and Toby dies.

The pollicles explain that they are akin to the Jellicle cats and have been there a while and can transform to a similar shape to Jellicles.

Jemima is granted a vision of Toby in the heavyside layer and is consoled by the fact that he is happy.

The pollicles hunt down and destroy Macavity finally freeing the junkyard from his threat.

Fast forward another year or so.

Jem is now mated with Misto and gives birth to a white and grey tom that is born with his eyes open. The kitten is the splitting image of her pollicle friend and she names him Toby.

Since that day life has flourished within the junkyard. The Huskies have continued to visit and have helped the Jellicles regain their history and develop their magic.

Several of the cats have made the journey to the Heavyside and are waiting to be reborn, including, Jellylorum, Asparagus, Skimbleshanks and Plato who went at the last ball.

The only other death to the most common of the cats was that of Bustopher Jones who was taken suddenly by a heart attack.

…

Cats list and appearance.

Toby – 17 – White cat with grey patches, lean build, very loyal and dependable. Son of Jemima and Mistofollees.

Twitch – 18 – A white, grey and black calico, big hairy goofball, hyperactive airhead. Son of Etcetera and Adementus.

Jet – 16 – Black cat with green eyes, very large kit. Very defensive of his sister. Son of Jem and Misto (2nd litter).

Gemma – 16 – Black cat with a pure white blaze on her chest, quite small (think Jemima's size in the movie.) Daughter of Jem and Misto (2nd litter).

Nix – 16 – Silver grey with black on her ears and the tip of her tail, very aloof and seen as pretty hostile by other cats, very loving once you get to know her. Adopted daughter of Cori and Tanto.

Kamira – 19 – Ginger cat with green eyes, very shy. Daughter of Macavity, left by her mother with Jenny as a newborn kitten.

Westerly – 19 – Brown patchwork tom. Son of Victoria and Plato.

Lizbet – 19 – White with brown ears and tail. Daughter of Victoria and Plato.

Christo – 19 – Brown and black mottled tom. Blind. Son of Victoria and Plato.

Chamolie – 15 – Red and black queen, the image of her mother. Daughter of Electra and Pouncival (2nd litter, no kittens survived in the first.)

Jacaranda – 16 – Orange calico queen, very outspoken and nuts, daughter of Mungojerrie and Rumpleteaser.

Dominica – 17 – Red and black streaked Mane Coon, is the hottest thing on two or four legs and knows it, however she has already worked out who will be her mate and refuses to flirt with anyone. Daughter of Bombs and Tugger.

Then we have the adults we all know and love.

Teaser and Mungo – 37 and 38.

Jem and Misto – 34 and 38

Victoria and Plato (in heavyside) – 37

Etcetera and Admentus – 37 and 44

Electra and Pouncival – 37 and 36

Tumblebrutus – 37

Cori and Tanto – 44

Alonzo and Cass – 53

Tugger and Bombs – 56

Munk and Dem – 55 and 54

Jenny and Gus – 75

Jelly and Skimble (both in heavyside) – would have been 80.

Bustopher (deceased) – would have been 77 and is the only one that didn't get chosen to ascend.

Asparagus (in heavyside) – would have been 94.

Old D – not sure but nearly 100 and still is going strong.

…

Time had passed and Toby had just passed his 17th birthday. The tribe had celebrated in its usual fashion, much to the youth's embarrassment, with a huge party. He'd developed into a striking cat, lean and well proportioned with muscle. The grey markings on his white kitten coat had deepened and stretched over his crown and haunches and had drawn admiring glances from many a visiting queen.

After the greetings and congratulations from his parents Jemima and Mistofollees and his grandparents, Munk and Demeter and waving in embarrassment to the rest of the adults in the tribe Toby made his way over to where his friends were gathered with the rewards from a sortie to the overburdened tables.

Dominica called over to him. "Here I got you some mice and a nice squirrel Toby, come and eat." She patted the ground beside her.

Toby just grinned shyly at the not so subtle hint and sat beside the slightly older queen, thanking her for the food, with a kiss on the cheek. Dom simply looked down at her hands and blushed fiercely, very unusual for the queen.

The big boofhead Twitch jumped across the little circle and bowled his friend over. "So how's it feel to be legal buddy?" he boomed.

"Messy," laughed Toby amused at his best friends' antics as he picked mouse and squirrel out of his fur. He put a hand out to his side and pulled Dom back to a sitting position from where she was knocked over by a stray leg. "Are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine" she replied quietly. "No thanks to buggerlugs over here."

The entire circle of friends laughed at the big tom kits behaviour and went back to discussing the grey toms' future.

…

Misto and Jem were sitting over on the large tyre with Victoria and Munkunstrap, funnily enough they were also discussing the future of the newly adult cat. After the ascension of Plato in the last Jellicle ball, Victoria had taken over watching the kittens full time, so she wouldn't think too much on her much loved mate. She found that filling her life with the laughter and love of the tribes kittens helped with the loneliness and grief of not having her mate around.

"He's one of the most responsible kittens we've had in decades Munk. The way he looks out for the other kittens is incredible." Victoria was saying. "Jenny was saying just the other day that he's even better at it than even you were."

"I keep getting reports like this from everyone, but how do I know that they aren't just telling me what I want to hear." Munk asked.

Jem broke in, "Just look at him dad." The cats all looked over as Jet swiped at Twitch for pouncing on Gemma's tail and Toby quietly calmed the two toms down with minimal fuss. "It's instinctual for him. You still know what I think about the circumstances around his birth and what I believe happened."

"What, that he's Tadita reborn?" said Munk sceptically. "I know that they look kind of similar but it's unheard of to have a Jellicle reborn from another species."

A deep voice came from the darkness behind them, "not as unheard of as you might think."

The cats on the tyre all leapt to their feet as three large shadows formed just beyond the light of the clearing. The silhouettes resolved into three large grey pollicle dogs, who began to ripple and shrink as they approached the open area.

"Damn it Jericho!" Munk exclaimed. "I really wish you wouldn't do that to me."

The newly transformed husky just laughed and extended a paw in friendship, "But you jump so well."

"Hmmf. You'll give me a heart attack one of these days. To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit? I can't believe that you'd travel a couple of thousand miles just to say hi." Munk asked.

"Hardly a couple of thousand. I'm over here on a training camp and we thought we'd take the weekend off and come down to say hello."

The black and grey pollicle quietly broke in, "Sorry to disturb you boys but do you know where Demmy is? I have something to tell her."

"We'll take you Niagra. The boys are just going to talk shop anyway, but before we go can you introduce us to your friend?" Jemmy offered.

"Oh. My apologies, this is my sister Skye." Niagra drew the shy white female into the group and introduced the cats.

"I love your fur, Skye" complimented Vicky, the younger pollicle just bowed her head shyly.

"Well, lets go and find Dem for you and we can catch up on all the gossip" said Jemima and pulled the two huskies off the tyre and into the crowd of cats.

Greetings and introductions were held as the girls made their way through the crowd and on the tyre the guys turned back to their conversation.

"Like I was saying we were up in Scotland on a training camp and while our human had to go back home to the states for something we decided to get away for a visit. It'll probably be the last time we're able to leave for a while." Jericho paused expectantly.

"Ok then. I'll bite. Why aren't you going to leave for a while?" asked Misto, already suspecting the answer.

"Well they don't let expectant mothers leave the dens, not since Tadita's mother was dognapped, and there's no way known that I'm going to leave my mate during her first litter." Jericho puffed up like a bantam rooster.

"That's great news mate" said Munkunstrap. They heard a delighted squeal from the direction of Bombarulina's den and laughed. "I think Dem just got the news."

Misto looked over towards where the sound came from. "And by the looks of it the news is getting around. I can see Etcy bouncing from over here. EC but I hope the queens don't start getting clucky again."

Jeri clapped his little black friend on the shoulder, "What? You don't want to become a dad again?"

"Not particularly. We've nearly gotten rid of the kittens now. It's going to be really nice for it to be just Jem and myself again. Just don't tell her that" revealed Misto with a cocky little grin.

All three had a good chuckle and Munk remembered what Jericho had said before joining the cats. "You said something about species being reborn into others?"

"Well we've got no proof, but you know how Namid was killed shortly after we returned to the range all those years ago." The cats nodded. "Well Namihira during a communion with the great pack leader, said that she was told that Namid had left the hunt and returned. We canvassed the other tribes and there weren't any births during that time anywhere but here.

"How long ago was this?" asked Misto.

"17 years and 5 months. The same thing happened when Toby was born, which is why we believe that he is Tadita returned to his first family" replied Jericho.

"17 years, 5 months" mused the tuxedo cat looking over at the gathered kits, then burst into laughter.

Munk and Jericho looked at him, bemused.

"Namid was going to be Tadita's mate isn't that correct?" asked Misto.

"Yes. They were deeply in love." Jeri responded.

"Well have a look over at the kits and see if you can figure out which queen we have was born 17 years and 5 months ago." The tuxedo cat sat there giggling to himself as he watched the other two on the tyre doing as he advised.

It came to Munk first. "Oh EC. You're kidding, surely."

"Nope. It all fits" laughed the magician.

"What fits?" asked Jeri.

Munk had a wide grin on his face now. "It means that my grandson is going to have a very interesting love life. You see where Toby is sitting in the circle? Now look at who's beside him hanging on his every word."

"The red and black queen?"

"Yes. That's Bomb and Tuggers daughter. She took after them both in a big way. I'd say Toby is going to get quite the education over the years." Misto revealed.

"But doesn't that make her his aunt or something?" asked Jeri of Munkunstrap. "Isn't Bomb you're sister in law and Tugger your brother?"

"Not quite. Tugger was adopted by Old D and Bombs is Dem's half sister. For Jellicles that is enough degree of separation for a pairing not to be too weird, it's not like the ruckus that was caused when Cori and Tanto admitted they were mates" explained the silver tabby.

"You guys are weird, you know that don't you?"

Munk just laughed. "We wouldn't have it any other way."

The three got down off the tyre and mixed with the crowd.

…

"Happy Birthday to YOU!" sang the assembled cats and pollicles.

Toby, no longer grey but scarlet, tried to hide shrink into a little ball.

"Oh God I wish this was over" he thought to himself.

His father came over, "Chin up son. You only become an adult once. Enjoy it. I think I see someone over there that wants to congratulate you too." Misto pointed over towards a certain red and black queen in a corner.

"I. um. What?" Toby stammered.

Misto just laughed and pushed him over towards Dom. "Get out of here, you."

Toby went with the push and approached his friend.

"Um. Dad said that he thought you had something for me?"

"I. I do but I don't want to give it to you in front of everyone." Dominica replied hesitantly and pulled the unresisting Tom around a corner and out of the line of sight of the main party.

"You see. I've, um, wanted to give this to you for a while now but I've been too embarrassed and if I don't give it to you now I might never get the chance and I want the chance oh god I can't do this I can I want to but I don't want you to think I'm something I'm not oh Bast I'm babbling…"

Toby laid a paw on her lips. "Shh. It's ok, just tell me."

"Umm. Ok then. Here goes." Dom was petrified at how her next actions would be taken. "Close your eyes." She moved in very close and put her paws on either side of his head pulling it down. "Now open them" she whispered softly "I love you."

She pulled his lips to hers and proceeded to give him the kiss of a lifetime. Toby who'd stiffened at her last comment "she loves me? Why? Oh EC this is nice" relaxed into the kiss and began to kiss the red queen back wrapping his arms around her back and pulling her into him. The world dimmed for the two lovers, they only had awareness of each other, their lips, their fur, their scent. The world slowly faded back into focus and the two cats became aware of a round of cheers, applause and wolf whistles from the younger toms. In their passion they'd stepped back out of the shadows and into the full view of the Junkyard. Gemma had been the first one to notice the two and had nudged her friends Lizbet and Jacaranda directing their attention to the pair. More and more cats turned to look as the news spread through the crowd and the silence changed to titters and laughter then cheers.

"And what it the Everlasting Cats name are you doing with my Daughter? Came a loud angry yell from the front of the crowd.

Toby looked at the tall spotted mane coon who'd fluffed out his fur and appeared twice his normal size.

"I, um, I" stammered Toby, grasping Doms hands even tighter as he looked up at Rum Tum Tugger. He looked past the angry tom to see her mother with a huge welcoming smile on her face and tears in her eyes giving him a slight nod. "I love her."

A collective "awwww" came from the crowd.

"Way to go, Bro" yelled Twitch, who was quickly shushed by Kamira.

"You love her, huh?" Tugger paced closer to the intimidated pair. "Are you sure of that?"

"Yes, I am. I always have been." Toby replied staring into the glaring face of the tom in front of him.

Tugger abruptly straightened up and plastered a sloppy grin on his face, "about bloody time you realised it too. Make sure you look after her." He then turned and made his way back to his mate, grabbing her on the bum as they walked through the crowd.

The two lovers looked around in astonishment at the parents and then again at each other. "I think we've been found out."

Toby then took his new queenfriend by the arm and took her into the crowd for another round of congratulations.

…

A couple of days later the two cats had found, with the help of Jemima and Demmy, a den close by and had settled in amongst a plethora of unwanted advice and help. The older queens finally left the lovers alone in their new den. An heavy silence grew between the two cats, this was the first time they'd been alone since the party and they weren't exactly sure how to begin.

The silence grew longer and longer. Toby looked at Dom and Dom looked at Toby, neither able to take their eyes off the other until a small chuckle escaped Tobies throat quickly growing to a full grown laugh, which set Dom off in turn. The two cats collapsed on the floor unable to hold their balance as the laughter verged on the border of hysterical. Every time they began to calm down they'd look at each other and the giggles would begin again. They finally ended up sitting against the wall together, Dom resting in Tobies arms.

"You know that I really do love you Dom?" said Toby. "It just took me a while to realise it."

"I know. I've had a crush on you for years. I always thought we were made for each other and I had to let you know as soon as I could. I just didn't expect it to be quite so public" giggled Dom.

"Oh Bast. Don't start us off again, Dom, please. Let's go see what's happening outside. We can finish up in here later." Toby dragged Dom to her feet and led her out of the Den.

"Well that didn't take long, need some pointers on stamina there Toby?" echoed across the clearing.

Toby looked up to see his irresponsible friend Twitch sitting with Jet and Gemma sitting on an old washing machine. The two cats jumped up with the others and Toby simply went over and pushed his friend off the edge. "Shaddup you!"

Twitch simply lay where he landed laughing his head off.

"What's been happening guys?" he asked Jet and Gemma.

"Not much, granddad has a couple of weird visitors in his den that appeared earlier this morning." Gemma said.

"He asked for you to join him when you came out." Jet added.

"Oh? Ok then. Coming Dom?" Toby jumped down off the old machine and the two made their way over to the Jellicle Protectors den. As they approached they could make out a muffled conversation within.

Dom knocked on the doorway. "Munkunstrap, you wanted to see us?"

Demeter opened the door and ushered the two cats inside.

"Well, I only asked for Toby but it's good that you are here as well" said the old silver tabby.

Toby and Dom looked at the strange figures inside the den. There was an aged Pollicle in humanoid form and two others that were also the size of the Jellicles, but unfamiliar in their forms. One was a slim, haughty, long nosed creature with a soft brown downy coat and strange claws on its feet. The other was a slick skinned and rather chunky individual with greyish skin and a wide mouth.

Munkunstrap motioned everyone to take a seat.

Toby and Dominica looked at the pollicle and couldn't shake the feeling that they knew this woman. She steepled her paws in front of her and looked back at the pair. "It makes my heart glad that you two have found one another again."

Toby looked at Dom. "What?" he whispered. Dom just shrugged.

Munk carried on. "This gentleman is Kwaksel and is the leader of the dolphins from the area around the south pacific" he indicated the gray skinned person, who bowed his head in greeting. Munk gestured towards the downy coated woman, "this is Diamuldi from Australia who is the leader of the Eagles." Diamuldi nodded her head. He then indicated the pollicle that drew feelings of familiarity to the two younger cats. "This is the leader of the pollicles from North America, Nahimana who says that she knew you both in another life."

"Another life? What does that mean?" interrupted Dom.

"Exactly that" came the soft tones of Nahimana. "I knew you both, before you were both reborn as Jellicles, and you were members of my tribe. I knew you both then as Tadita a promising guide in my clan and Namid my only daughter."

…

**Well there you go. Hit the review button if you want to see more.**

**Not dead sure when I'll get the next one up as it's going to be some completely new area's that this will take us into.**

**I'd like to thank everyone who put in an OC for me to use. I will be bringing more out as the story develops.**


	2. Chapter 2

Journeys Pt 2

**Thankyou LicoriceMitskiandOperaGhost for the review. I originally used a lot more of the OC's in the first chapter but it got too confusing. She'll be along shortly though. **

**My apologies for the time it's taken for me to continue this story. I've got some major writers block going so threw this together in the hope it'd give me a kickstart to get over it.**

…

_"Exactly that" came the soft tones of Nahimana. "I knew you both, before you were both reborn as Jellicles, and you were members of my tribe. I knew you both then as Tadita a promising guide in my clan and Namid my only daughter."_

…

"Daughter?" queiried Domenica

"Guide?" asked Toby. " What the hell are you talking about?"

Namahira sighed and arched her back, audible clicks were heard as he vertebra aligned, "take a seat young ones. This may come as a bit of a shock."

Dom and Toby sat on the offered cushions, glancing at each other, both of them figuring to humour the old pollicle.

"18 years and 2 months ago a great battle was fought here at the junkyard between a large pack of primitive dogs and your fathers and grandfathers. Your forebears were in grave peril when a pack of my brethren appeared upon the scene. They were led by my daughter, Namid, and had with them her prospective mate, Tadita. These two great pollicles were you Domenica and you Toby. Don't interrupt me, your explanation will come. Their presence delayed the fight and it was hoped that it would have prevented it completely, this unfortunately wasn't to be. A brute of a dog shook off the aura that the pack was projecting and attempted to attack your mother Jemima, Toby, and it was at this point that Tadita came to the direct defence of the person who saved his life years before and to whom he had formed a soul bond with. He attacked the pack of dogs by himself and it was this act of, well, stupidity is one way of putting it, that convinced Namid and the others to join the fight. The battle was fierce and even with the addition of the Jellicles to the battle it was not one without loss. The dogs were driven off, however Tadita was mortally wounded and did not survive the conclusion by long."

Toby interrupted. "We've heard this all before. It's one of the most revered tales of the tribe."

"Yes young one but you do not know the aftermath." Nahimana continued. "After the death of Tadita, Namid sent the remainder of her pack out to search for the one behind the attack. She hid her greif, not knowing how it would affect her at later times. The pack eventually cornered the one named Macavity, in an old warehouse and slaughtered him like the rabid beast he had become, and then returned to the junkyard and reported the success of their mission to Namid. I have been told that a great celebration was convened, both to mourn and remember Tadita and to rejoice in the lifting of the curse that had been hovering over the Jellicles for so many years. It was at the conclusion of this, that my compatriots departed and began their journey back to our range. During the sea voyage Namid fell into a deep depression over the loss of her love. With none of the others of the pack able to console her, Namid took her own life. We were told that she was on board the ship when the pack went to sleep but was missing when they awoke. No sign was ever found of her remains and it is believed that she gave herself to the ocean in her grief. When the pack returned with the news of the loss of Namid and Tadita, I undertook a ritual which allows me to converse with the great pack leader, I believe that Old Dueteronomy can perform a similar task. It was during this, that I found both of our heroes had been granted membership in the great hunt and were running on the sky range. Imagine my surprise when I undertook this communion a year later and found that they were no longer there. I was granted the information that they had both been returned for another round on the wheel of life, one five months before and one just days prior to my undertaking this ritual. Armed with this knowledge I pursued any and all information from within the packs, to ascertain whether any pups had been born within the time period allotted. It came back that none of the parents within our pack had given birth during either window and that we must look outside of the packs, it is not unheard of for one of our primitive brothers to give birth to a pup of a more evolved situation and we try to gather these poor unfortunates in as soon as we are able. We determined that no pollicle pups, to our knowledge, were born during that time period and so we began to look to the other great tribes."

Namahira asked for a glass of water to dampen her throat and Toby rose to carry out the task before his grandmother Demeter could stir.

Thanking the young cat Namahira continued her tale. "We first went to the Eagles, who are based in Australia, and were given an audience with their leader" she indicated Diamuldi, "who graciously allowed us to conduct the same search within her people. We discovered several candidates but none of them had the same feeling to their souls that we associate with Tadita and Namid so we knew that our searching was not yet successful. It was from there that we journeyed to an island in the South Pacific Ocean whereby we were introduced to Kwaksel and his people, the dolphins, and repeated the process with no more success than before. Dejected by our failure we returned to Australia and then took an airline to France, where we met with several of my brethren who were training in Europe. By this point my search had taken me nearly 17 years and I was impatient to complete it, not to mention weary of being away from home for so many years, so I tasked Jericho with leading myself and my companions to the Junkyard, he's been here before and I did not wish to have to deal with the junkyard masking spell. **(A/N**** read**** my ****story ****My ****Life**** for ****a ****description ****of ****how**** this ****spell ****works.)**It was only on night during your birthday celebrations that we arrived and not wishing to break up the party, we waited until this morning to make our presence known. The Jellicles were our last chance to find you. If you were not here then the only conclusion left is that you'd been reborn as human and there was no possibility then of ever finding you, there are just too damn many of them. It was on the recommendation of Jericho due to a conversation he had last night with your father and grandfather, that we invited you here today, for which I am eternally grateful, because my long search is finally over."

"But what does all that mean?" asked Dominica, "and what does it have to do with us?"

"Well the crux of the matter is that you have turned everything that the great tribes believed upon its head. It was never really considered that a soul could be reborn into the body of one of the other great tribes. Every other time that we have known of a rebirth, it has been within the species and the tribal leaders have been able to recognise the feel of the soul quite readily. For some reason the great pack leader, has this time given you two over to another tribe and we want to know why." Namahira revealed. "To this end we wish to do some regression and try to ascertain what direction the gods want us to go."

Toby had been sitting on the cushions listening intently to the explanations given by the old pollicle at the table. "We need to discuss this. Can you wait or do you need an answer now?"

"We do not see any reason to rush into this" said Kwaksel in a high pitched voice, strangely incongruous coming from such a large individual. "This search has taken 17 years and it would be foolish to give us an answer without thinking it through first."

Toby stood up and pulled a stunned Dominica to her feet beside him. He looked over at his grandfather, "may we be excused Munkunstrap?"

The silver and black tabby gave his assent and the two younger cats exited the den.

Outside they were immediately approached by their circle of friends and bombarded with questions about the interview within the den.

Toby held up his paws and the group quietened down quickly. "We were told a lot of things, some surprising, some astounding and some that I really don't know if I can believe. We need a little time to process it all and I'll let you know afterwards, ok?"

"Nix." The silver and grey kit perked her ears up. "Can you please go and get your parents for me and send them to my new den? Dom and I are in need of some mystic advice. Gem can you go find mum and dad and do the same? Thanks."

The two cats headed off to find their respective parents while the other cats asked if there was anything that they could contribute.

"Not right now. Sorry guys but we really just need to discuss what we were told in there with some magicians. After that I'll let you know what I can." The little group broke up, all the kits moving away to pursue other activities. Jacaranda dashed off paw in paw with Twitch to find some trouble, Jet and Westerly headed off to continue their protector training with Alonzo and Admentus. Kamira, Lizbet and Christo went off to hunt, an extremely easy task with Christo's enhanced hearing. Finally alone, Toby and Dominica proceeded to their new den to await the magical cats.

First to arrive was Nix with her adopted parents Tantomile and Coricopat, followed shortly after by Tobies sister Gem with their parents Misto and Jemima. Both kittens were invited to stay for the discussion. Nix due to the studies she was undertaking in trying to understand her shadow powers and improve her control and Gem for the intelligence she hid behind her shyness and quiet demeanour.

Toby began to explain the situation, starting with the meeting they had in his grandfathers den.

…

"So that's the situation. Do you think we should go through with this regression thing?" asked the young tom.

Misto glanced at his mate, who coincidently still had the smug little grin on here face from when they were told about Toby being Tadita reborn. "It's a question that has two sides my boy. The first is that this may be the only way that we can find out why you were reborn as a Jellicle and the second is the question of 'Do you really want to know?'"

Dom piped up. "Well that's the 67 dollar question isn't it? Do we want to know? I like my life at the moment and I don't want to mess it up with something carried over from a time I wasn't aware of, but what if it's an important message that needs to get through?" The red queen was getting visibly upset and Toby pulled her into his chest where she could nuzzle into his ruff.

Nix was a little perplexed at it all. "I've never heard of anything like this before and none of my books have ever covered it either. I don't know what I can add, except that for the EC and Namahira to have travelled all this way then it must be important."

"I agree with Nix," Gemma quietly explained. "She has no reason to lie to us and what we could learn outweighs the risk."

"Cori, Tanto? What do you think we should do?"

"We cannot sense anything definitive; however there is a sense of distance and danger associated with the situation you are currently in. One choice will lead to obliteration and the other to revelation though one is not exclusive of the other. More than that we cannot determine" the twins said together in their strange way.

"Well that's not much help" muttered Dom into Tobies neck. She turned back to the group, "Jemima. You're the only one that we haven't heard from yet. What do you think?"

Jem sat thinking for a minute. "I think it all comes down to trust. Do you trust the people asking you to do this? They know that it's dangerous however they believe that they can manage that risk. I trust my father and I also trust Namahira. I say to try it."

It dawned on Toby that his mother had hit the nail on the head. Did he trust his grandfather, the answer to which was unequivocally 'Yes.'

"Thankyou everyone. I'll ask you all" Toby looked pointedly at the kittens, "not to discuss this with anyone else until Granddad announces it. Right now however I think we'll sleep on it and make a decision tomorrow."

The pair ushered the four adult and two teenage cats out of the lair and returned to sit on the edge of the bed.

"What. A. Day!" they exclaimed together and began to laugh.

"EC I hope every day we're together isn't going to be this complicated" said Domenica.

"Aint that the truth. So what do you think? Should we do it?" asked Toby.

"I think we should. I wasn't going to but Cori and Tanto have freaked me a little with that prediction. I'd prefer to be doing something rather than waiting for fate to come up and bite me on the tail if we decide not to do this memory thing. You never know we might just enjoy it."

"Yeah I agree. And just think. How many of our friends can say that they've loved each other through 'two' lifetimes?" Toby scooted a little closer to his queenfriend and gave her a smoky look.

"Down boy! You know we can't do that until after the mating ceremony" Dom protested pushing away Tobies roving paws. "Toby. Stop. Stop it before we get in trouble."

"Aww, you're no fun Dom."

"Ha. You know I am. We're just lucky that our parents didn't kick up a fuss when we decided to move in together. Now give me a kiss and let's go to bed." Dominica saw the grin spread across her tomfriends face. "To sleep. You pervert."

"Fine" huffed the tom.

Toby switched off the light and curled up behind Dominica.

Silence spread across the darkened Junkyard…

"**TOBY**! Stop that!"

Munkunstrap just buried his face into Demeters ruff and laughed.

…

**I know this hasn't really gone anywhere but I needed to get it out of the way and try to get past this damn writers block.**

**Review if you can please. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Journeys Pt 3**

**Well here we go again. Second last chapter of the prep work now I hope.**

**Oh and for anyone that's interested. I've just signed up with twitter 'danielryan18'. Don't expect much I've only just worked out how to use facebook for things except playing poker so twitter may take a while…**

…

The next day dawned wet and cold, quite strange for early autumn. Toby and Dominica were entertaining Bombarulina and Rum Tum Tugger for breakfast.

"Hey Toby." Tugger called Toby over to where he was looking out the window. "Your brother is nuts. You know that don't you?"

"What do you mean? Oh hang on. Exactly how wet is it out there?" asked Toby.

"It's absolutely pissing down" was the reply.

"Let me guess. That ebony idiot is running around in it?"

"Not quite. But he is out there."

Toby looked out the window of the den he shared with his queenfriend of only a couple of days, at his brother Jet, a pure black shorthair, who was lying flat on his back in the middle of the junkyard clearing while a storm raged about him, giggling his head off and swatting at raindrops with his paws.

"Yep. I've said it before and I'll say it again. My brother is decidedly weird." Toby turned away from the storm and back to where his potential mother in law was sitting with his partner.

"You know that you scared the shit out of me at the party the other night Tugger?" Toby asked.

"Of course. I can't have just any tom going out with my daughter. The result was a foregone conclusion though. I think the only cats in the yard that didn't know how you two felt about each other were the two of you" said the mane coon.

"And the fact that you got a laugh out of it never entered your mind, eh dad?" asked Dom.

"Well maybe just a little, but we let you two move in together didn't we?" spouted Tugger. "Just remember the rules. Nothing below the waist until you have a collar on you young lady."

"Dad" protested Dominica. "Mum. Make him stop!"

"Oh don't you start that. We heard you last night" laughed Tugger.

"TOBY! Stop that." He mimicked.

Toby quietly tried to sink into his seat feeling that if he had anymore blood rush to his face, his head would explode.

"I wasn't that loud." Dom protested. "Was I?"

Bombs piped up with "well dear. We're on the other side of the clearing and we heard it quite clearly."

"Oh Bast. At least it was late at night. Not too many cats would have heard it. I hope."

To cover her own blushes, Dominica served mouse cakes to her parents and tomfriend.

"We wanted you here to talk about a couple of things." Toby began, "do you know about the strange visitors that we have at the moment?" Tugger nodded, "good. We had an interview with them last night and they believe that we are two pollicles that were reborn in Jellicle bodies."

Bomb broke in, "What? Both of you? I mean we knew about you Toby but never thought of our Domi"

"Yeah they think that I am Tadita, from the tales you've told us, and that Domi is his potential mate reborn." Toby revealed. "Something about them being so much in love that not even death could keep them apart or some such rot." Domi rolled her eyes at this; "but now they reckon that we were reborn for some reason and want us to do some sort of hypnosis thing to relive the Heavyside layer."

"Are you going to do it?" asked Tugger.

"Yes. We talked it over last night and we want to know if it's true." Dom said.

"Well if it is then your mother, Jemima, will be insufferable. She's always said you were her pollicle puppy reborn" said Bombarulina. "When is it going to happen?"

"We don't know yet, we haven't told anyone except you two. As soon as we finish breakfast we'll dash over and let them know. With luck it'll be fairly soon, I can't think of anything better to do on a day like today."

"Well then. Tuck in and we'll get this show on the road."

The four cats quietened down and finished their breakfast. Dom cleared away the plates and they all made preparations for the mad dash through the raid to Munkunstraps den.

As one the four cats did the bolt the short distance, pausing just within the doorway to look at the soaking wet bundle of black fur that was Tobies brother Jet. He'd given up trying to swat at the raid and was now just lying there with his mouth open, and tongue askew out the side, face up to the raid and oblivious to everything else around him.

"Absolute idiot." Toby whispered to himself once more and then turned into the den.

Inside the rather large centre room sat Munk and Dem together with their visitors and also Jem and Misto. The four newcomers sat down with the others and began to lick the water off their fur.

"Is your brother still out there?" Misto asked Toby as he sat down.

"Yes. Are you dead sure he's my brother? You didn't drag him out of the river while fishing and slap a fur coat on him as a joke? I've never seen a cat act that way around water ever."

Jem reached over and tapped Toby on the head. "Don't say things like that about your brother. He just likes water. Even if it is a bit weird."

Nahimana leaned forward towards the younger cats. "I can sense you have reached a decision with regards to our request from last night?" then she added with a smile, "amongst other things."

Toby just sighed to himself, "is there anyone that we're going to meet that didn't hear that last night?"

"We've decided to go ahead with it." Toby reached over and took Dom's paw in his own, "we just want to know now."

"Fine. Munkunstrap, can we please prevail upon you for a small, quiet, open area where we can have some seclusion for a few hours?" Kwaksel asked. "If you do then we can carry the ritual out now."

"Sure. I know just the place. Follow me." Munkunstrap looked out the window, "how about I show you after this storm clears, we don't all like water like my grandson. After an hour or so of pleasant conversation and gentle ribbing of the young lovebirds, Munkunstrap led the group out of the den and down a twisted route to an isolated clearing, collecting Tantomile and Coricopat along the way.

"How appropriate dad" said Jemima.

Toby, Dom and their guests looked at her with a question in their eyes.

"This is the clearing where I raised Tadita for the first month of his life." Jem explained.

"Oh. That is excellent. It should make the connection just a little bit easier." Nahimana was quite pleased by the concordance. "Now then we need to be undisturbed for the ritual. I do not mind anyone staying in the clearing however we will need someone to prevent any visitors whilst we perform it. It's not dangerous, however it will make us have to start again, and it can be quite tiring."

Rum Tum Tugger and Bombarulina volunteered and went back up the trail a little bit to divert any passerby's from coming down the path, closing the gate behind them as they left. The remainder gathered into a circle, surrounding Toby and Dom, in one of the dry areas of the clearing, the mystics forming the circle and everyone else outside of them.

Toby and Dominica were instructed to link paws and then the mystics closed in around the pair, each resting their right paw/claw/flipper on the pair and the left on the shoulder of the mystic beside them, forming the physical link between the groups. Nahimana started to sing in a soft contralto voice. The words weren't important but the melody permeated the clearing. After a short period Kwaksel picked up the melody with a countertenor followed by Diamuldi with a low soprano. The Jellicle mystics listened to the music for a short period and then joined in with the song. One thing that everyone involved in the ritual had forgotten, was the innate magical ability of all Jellicle cats. The melody soared through the junkyard drawing Jellicles from their activities everywhere. The entire tribe were pulled to the clearing crowding around the singing group in a trance, Bomba and Tugger leading the pack. The cats, driven by feelings that they didn't understand, linked paws and raised their voices in counterpoint to the melody coming from the group in the middle of the clearing. As soon as the last kitten added their voice to the chorus, Dominica and Toby threw their heads back and a single pure tone sprung from their throats, it went on and on. One by one the voices of the others echoing in the clearing wavered and died, the owners looking around themselves, confused at where they were, until it was just the mystics still singing.

Then the mystical cats quietened their voices and sunk back on their haunches, breaking the physical connection with Toby and Dominica. The two cats, however, continued to pump out the pure tone for several more minutes, before it suddenly stopped and they lowered their faces. They looked around at the gathering, eyes glowing with power, and said together in an ethereal voice "We know." Then they promptly collapsed into the arms of the surrounding animals.

…

Toby struggled back to consciousness several hours later to find himself lying on his parents bed, confused he looked around and found his queenfriend asleep beside him and his mother dozing in a chair beside the bed. He placed a paw on the shoulder of Dom and quietly shook her awake. She woke with a start and Toby placed a paw over her mouth before the red and black queen could make a noise and wake his mother. Motioning quietly he led Dom off the bed and out the door of the room to the living area where they found the various tribal elders and the mystic Jellicles sharing a cup of tea and some general gossip about the world.

They were welcomed with quiet hellos and a drink was passed to both of them. Toby and Dom sat down on the cushions and waited for the questions that they knew were coming.

The elders and cats looked around at each other all waiting for someone else to ask the question they all wanted to hear the answer for. Finally Munkunstrap cleared his throat, "I guess I'll be the patsy. Did it work? Do you remember anything?"

Dominica spoke for the two of them, quite unexpectantly I might add as she was normally the one to sit in the background and not place herself in the forefront. "We have the memories and we know why we were returned..."

"We are to undertake a journey. We are to reunite the Jellicles with the other great tribes and gather their strength for trials that are to come." Toby added. "Before you ask. We were not told what the trials are to be, only that the tribes are to be prepared."

The Jellicle cats sat back slightly surprised by the surety and maturity, which seemed strangely beyond the teenagers' years, being portrayed by the young tomcat. Misto spoke up. "What exactly do you mean?"

"It was passed to us prior to our rebirth that we would take several companions with us on a journey to the other great tribes to reaffirm the bond between us all. It is to be a selection of the old and the young and to consist of members of all the tribes." Dominica revealed. "It was also passed to us that not all the travellers would return to their homes. More than this we do not know." As she finished this statement, Jemima entered the room rubbing sleep from her eyes, and went to her mate, curling up in Misto's lap.

"We remember our lives before our deaths. We remember, though it fades to feelings, the realms of heaven by whatever name it is called. We remember the love we felt for our companions." Toby stated, "and we remember the love we felt for each other."

Toby gripped Dominicas' paw in his own. "Mother, Father, Munkunstrap and Demeter. I formally request permission to have Dominica as my mate. I have loved her throughout two lifetimes and I see no reasons on which to wait any longer to formalise our union."

Munkunstrap sat back a little. "You are still very young…" he began before being interrupted by the queen holding his grandsons paw.

"We are young in body only, Munkunstrap. Our minds and souls contain two lifetimes of memory and experience. We see no need to wait."

"That is all very well and good son, but Tugger and Bombs will need to have a voice in this as well." Mistofollees said.

"Very well. We will leave you to discuss what we ask while we go and see my parents." Dom said.

The two cats rose to their feet and exited the den, chased out by a comment from Tanto "Oh to be a fly on the wall in that conversation."

Toby and Dom made their way over to the wardrobe that served as Bombarulina and Rum Tum Tuggers den and knocked loudly on the door below the sign "If the car is rocking then don't come knocking!"

"Just a minute!" came a female voice from inside the den, followed by a much quieter "Tug. Keep your hands to yourself. We have guests. Tugger! There's someone out there."

"Oh all right" came a slightly miffed male voice. "Come in!"

Dom led Toby into the wardrobe to be greeted by the mass of red silk and satin pillows that the two glamour cats preferred to use as bedding.

Dom began. "Mother, Father. We have undertaken the ritual successfully and regained the memories we had before. We're going away and need to get something out of the way first. We want to undergo the formal mating ceremony before we leave and just thought we'd come by and let you know. Accidents happen on trips and we don't want to disgrace the tribe."

Toby, taken aback by his queenfriends statement, whispered in her ear. "Are you sure this is the right tack to take?"

Dom whispered back. "Trust me. I know how to deal with my parents."

She turned her attentions back to her parents. "Well?"

Tugger simply looked at the two of them. "Fine. Let us know when the ceremony is." Then turned back to his cushions. Bombs however got up and approached her daughter. "Are you sure about this?" Dom nodded and her mother turned to Toby and drew the pair into an embrace, whispering in his ear. "Take care of my baby. Don't hurt her or I'll kill you."

Toby, pretty sure she was joking (he hoped), whispered back "I will."

Releasing the two, Bombs gave Toby a nod and waved the two out of the den. "Now get out of here. We were in the middle of something" and turned back to her mate.

Toby and Dominica fled.

…

When they made it back to the Jellicle protectors den they entered into a lively discussion of times and dates for the ceremony. It appeared that Toby's relatives had bowed to the inevitable and were giving their blessing to the hurried union.

Jemima upon seeing the pair enter broke away from her conversation with Demeter, Tantomile and surprisingly Nahimana and Diamuldi and asked how Dom's parents reacted.

"Fine. No complaints" was the short answer.

Misto entered into the conversation. "How long do we have to prepare this thing?"

"Well we have to train all participants in a new spell we have been taught and make some preparations. That should take about a month, however we wish to be mates as soon as we can. We've already missed out once and we will not wait any longer than we have to." Toby replied.

Jemima thought for a second. "How about in 3 days. It's the night of the full moon and while it's not a Jellicle moon it's the next best thing, and it gives us a little bit of time to plan a party."

Toby and Dom groaned to themselves, they'd been hoping for just a small ceremony with their immediate family and friends to stand witness to the dance.

Munk just slapped Toby on the shoulder seeing the look on his face and said "Let the girls have their fun. Dom will get into it and have a ball and you're about to find out that keeping your mate happy is a bit part of your future. Just go with whatever they end up with deciding and trust that they won't go too overboard. We'll also use the party to explain what is going to happen and gather this group that you will be taking with you. Oh and don't ask me to go, I have too many responsibilities here and let's face it, you don't want me cramping the style of all you youngúns after all, and don't take all the capable fighters."

Toby laughed at the comment, glancing sideways at his soon to be mate watching the feeling of excitement catch her in its grip. "I won't put your name up grand dad but I do want a few of the older cats to come along. I think I'll just talk to everyone over the next day or so and work out who I'll need. I have a feeling I'll know who I need to take when I see them.

…

**Well that's it for another chapter.**

**Please if you read this then hit that little review button down there and let me know what you think. I really like hearing your thoughts about my stories.**

**Next chapter will deal with the party, the mating dance, and the training of the selected cats. I considered putting it here but want to work out a few things first to do with the celebration and didn't want to blow out the word count.**

**BTW the cat that Jet is based on does exactly what I described in this story. I caught him the other day during a thunderstorm lying flat on his back in the middle of the backyard with my dog beside him, not a care in the world and I had to add it into the tale.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Journeys Pt 4.**

**Well seeing as no one seems to be reviewing this story I'm probably going to discontinue it after this chapter and work on something else.**

**I am only doing this chapter so that the dozen people that did read the last one can find out what happens at the party and what the spell I was talking about entails.**

**Contains two songs, neither of which belong to me.**

…

The next morning Toby and Dom wandered the junkyard, approaching most of the cats as they were sunning themselves, hunting or generally messing around. They made a conscious decision to only approach cats that were adults or who were close to being of age. After several hours of small talk they convened back in their den with Munkunstrap to discuss the cats that gave them the feelings they would fit the group.

Munk began, after being settled in with a glass of milk and some tuna cookies, Dom had become quite a little homemaker. "Who did you come up with?"

"Well, we approached most of the tribe and we want to take Nix, Jacaranda, Gemma, Twitch, Kamira, Alonzo, Christo, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteaser. We've also spoken to Nahimana and we'll be picking up a couple of huskies as well." Toby replied.

Dom spoke up, "We know that we've included a couple of underage kits in the list but we'll have Alonzo, Jerrie and Teaser to keep us in line and in the end we really didn't make the choices."

"Well it's an interesting group. I can see the use for Nix as a shadowcat but why Kamira and Jacaranda?" Munk asked.

"I don't know to be honest. They just felt right. Jac is a pretty level headed queen if she calms down and thinks first, and Kamira is someone you can really count on when you get past her shell." Dom replied.

"We'll just have to have faith in the Everlasting Cat" Toby said with a note of finality, reminding his grandfather that they did not actually choose the cats selected, "I'd have liked to take a couple of others, like my dad and one of the twins, but this is the list we came up with."

Munkunstrap had to accept that response however much he disliked it, though he thought Cassandra would probably dislike it a lot more, not being able to go with her mate Alonzo. Not to mention what Jemima would say at the departure of two of her children, still they had a month or so to get used to the idea and a mating dance to go through first to distract the queens.

"Is there anything else I can help you guys with before I go?" Munk asked.

The two young adults looked at each other a little bashfully and then Toby asked his grand dad, "Um. Yes there is. It's about the dance tomorrow night. Um, how do you know what to do? I mean we know 'What' to do but how do you do the dance?"

Dom joined the questions, "We've both seen mating dances before but it seems that every one seems a little different. How do you know what the steps are? We never covered it in our dance classes as kits and no one really talks about their dance afterwards, except that it was magical."

"Well kids. Funnily enough that's nearly exactly right. We don't teach you how to do a mating dance because we can't. It's something that comes from your souls and it depends on how strong your love is as to how much you gel together in the dance. That's how we knew that, despite it all the troubles, Tugger and Bombs were made for each other, their display, while bordering on pornographic, was nearly perfectly in sync. In the end every mated couple has just turned up and gone with the flow of the night, it's all you can do in the end." Munk finished his explanation and watched the couple on the old sofa beside him, quietly amused at the switch in the cats demeanour after their take charge attitudes of the earlier conversations. "If it makes you feel any better, I asked my dad the same questions when I was going to mate with Demeter all those years back, and let's face it. If anyone knows about mating it's got to be Old Deuteronomy, the line in the greetings isn't completely made up you know..."

"And with that I'll leave you two lovebirds alone." Munk got up to leave, but stopped at the den entrance. "Oh. Toby before I forget. You're dad will be by before dawn to take you hunting. We need the extra food and, by tradition, you aren't allowed to see Dom until the party. Sleep well. You're going to need it."

…

The next morning, Toby was awakened by a paw shaking his foot, where it stuck out of the blankets. Opening his eyes he blearily recognised his father and Mungojerrie waiting by the bed. "Come on lazy. You've slept in and it's time to leave. Nuh uh. Don't turn around, if you were awake on time you'd be able to give Dom a smooch goodbye but the suns up now so you miss out." Misto and Jerrie took an arm each and frogmarched the sluggish tom out of his den.

Emerging out of the tunnel entrance into the dawn, Toby was confronted by a mass of toms. It appeared that every mated tom had been waiting and would be joining them on their hunt. Looking past the toms, Toby spotted a similar group of queens, just waiting for their mates to leave. Upon querying the situation, Toby was shrugged off with calls of tradition and "Don't worry about it, even the humans do this and call it a 'Bucks night' or something." With that the group surrounded the young groom and carried him off to the woods, while the queens filed into the den to wake the bride and have some "girl time."

…

The toms after a remarkably successful hunt were gathered around some logs in a clearing in the woods sharing some laughs and ribbing the nervous groom gently. They all had a small mouse in their paws, to keep up their strength, and those that cared to imbibe were passing around a small amount of nip.

"So what's going to happen tonight then 'Straps?" one of the toms asked of Munk, who'd been part of the organisation for the nights entertainment.

"Well it's going to be a pretty quiet night. We're going to gather in the clearing at about 8pm and have a couple of dances, expect Old D to show up sometime around here. Jem's going to sing with Bombs. Then the elders are going to perform a dance each which should be interesting, especially since Nahimana managed to get another couple of huskies here in time. Then Misto will introduce the lucky couple and they'll do the mating dance. After that we'll be introducing the group that will be going on this trip and that'll be it. Should be over and done fairly early so buggerlugs here can take his new mate back to their den and finish what he tried to start the other night."

"Toby, Stop that!" Alonzo mimicked, surprisingly well, from the circle of cats drawing a laugh from the crowd.

Toby just blushed and hid his face in his paws in embarrassment. He was right and the tribe wouldn't let him forget that little gaffe any time soon.

The hunting party soon headed back to the junkyard and after depositing their catch in the storage bins, went to find somewhere to rest before the party that night. Toby was led to his fathers den for a sleep. The queens were making damn sure that he couldn't slip back in to see his fiancé, even to the point of stationing a couple of queens at the entrance to their burrow, the queens, it appeared, took the tradition of not seeing your mate quite seriously.

…

Night fell and darkness spread across the junkyard. The cats began to gather in the main clearing and Admentus switched on a series of spotlights to illuminate the area. Uncharacteristically the Jellicle leader, Old Deuteronomy, actually arrived on time and was settled in his favourite spot on the big tyre in time for the dancing to begin. Toby and Dominica were sitting at either side of the tyre screened from each others view.

The celebrations began with an invitation issued by Misto and Tugger to the assembled spectators to participate in the mating ceremony for their son and daughter, Toby and Dominica. Tugger then led the Toms and Misto the queens in an energetic dance that left the assembly quite breathless. The pace then slowed down and the assembly paired up for a gentle waltz, part way through the dance Jemima pushed her mate Mistofollees towards the forlorn white queen that was sitting on the sidelines. "Dance with your sister. It's the first celebration since Plato left and she misses him."

Misto nodded and reached over to pull his adopted sister out onto the dance floor. After a brief protest Vic allowed herself to be dragged up, the other cats looking over at the pair fondly, glad to see the recent widow coming out of her shell. After a brief and tearful dance the black and white cats separated and with a small smile Victoria made her way over to her sister-in-law. "Thank you" and kissed Jem on the cheek. She walked back to her seat with a calmer look on her face, finally ready to rejoin life.

The waltz ended and the mothers of the happy couple climbed the tyre together and turned to face the crowd.

_There's a calm surrender to the rush of day  
>When the heat of the rolling world can be turned away<br>An enchanted moment, and it sees me through  
>It's enough for this restless warrior just to be with you<em>

_And can you feel the love tonight  
>It is where we are<br>It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer  
>That we got this far<br>And can you feel the love tonight  
>How it's laid to rest<br>It's enough to make kings and vagabonds  
>Believe the very best<em>

_There's a time for everyone if they only learn  
>That the twisting kaleidoscope moves us all in turn<br>There's a rhyme and reason to the wild outdoors  
>When the heart of this star-crossed voyager beats in time with yours<em>

The last notes of the song echoed across the junkyard and was greeted by a rousing round of applause. Munkunstrap stood and addressed the crowd. "Friends, we're about to be given a singular treat. Our esteemed visitors have decided to grace us with some of their own tribal dances in celebration of this union. First off I'd like to introduce you to the leader of the Eagle Tribes, Diamuldi."

The eagle leader stalked out into the middle of the clearing and assumed a haughty look, crossing her right arm across the front of her body and tucking her left behind her back. A tribal drum began to beat accompanied by a strange deep resonate drone. Diamuldi crouched down and tucked herself in until what sounded like a pair of sticks being beaten together began to beat in counterpoint to the drum. With the second beat of the sticks, Diamuldi leapt back to her feet and began stamping her feet in time and moving herself around the central point of the clearing. Twisting and bending herself in a sinuous manner the dance became faster and faster. Suddenly she threw her arms out and began to leap into the air. It was now that the crowd saw the feathers that she had been concealing beneath her arms, the leaps and turns became higher and higher until mid leap the elder seemed to shimmer in the spotlights, suddenly becoming a large brown and black bird of prey. Mother instinctively gathered their kittens to them, hawks and owls were one of the few things that Jellicles feared. However Diamuldi continued the dance she had begun on the ground performing dazzling aerials that left the crowd agape. The performance ended with a swoop out of the darkness where the eagle morphed back into a hybrid figure as she levelled out along the ground, Diamuldi tumbled to slow momentum and ended in the exact position and pose from which she began.

The applause was stupendous. The cats had never seen anything quite like it and crowded around the elder as she left the floor, giving more forms of appreciation.

Munk stood up once more. "Now my friends I direct your attention to the clearing once more where Kwaksel of the Dolphins will entertain us."

The crowd looked at the empty clearing, perplexed. Kwaksel wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Misto smirked to himself. Kwaksel had approached him earlier to beg a favour. He moved over to the side of the clearing and gathered his energy. "PRESTO!"

A large clear sided pool appeared in a flash of light in the clearing and a spotlight was directed up into the sky above the pool. Standing in the clear air was the gray skinned dolphin leader, who with a click of his fingers began to fall towards the water. As he passed the halfway point, he too shimmered and took the form of a dolphin; however he did not grow in mass but remained the same size as he was in his hybrid form. He entered the pool smoothly and began a display of speed and underwater agility that was as stunning as the aerials of his eagle compatriot earlier. He spun and twirled under the water and gathered speed, suddenly he began to leap out of the water, performing flips and somersaults. The cats were agog, all bar one large black tom who unseen approached the back side of the pool. Leaping up on the edge he suddenly became visible to the rest of the Jellicles and then did something that they could not believe. Jet jumped into the water and sunk beneath the surface. A gasp rang from the crowd and a strangled cry from Jemima, thinking that she'd just seen her second son drown himself. As the cats watched a wake and wave broached the surface of the pool, followed quickly by a very wet black cat with a huge grin plastered upon his face. Moving around the pool at great speed, Jet emerged higher and higher from the water, soon it became evident that he was standing on Kwaksel as the dolphin raced around the pool. Circling the outer perimeter of the pool the pair abruptly changed direction and raced directly in the direction of the great tyre, not making any attempt to slow down as they approached the edge. With a flip the dolphin flicked Jet up and out of the pool as dove into the air, as he flew outside the pool he once more morphed into his hybrid form and landed with his arms outstretched beside a soaked cat who'd assumed the same pose. The two shared a grin and bowed to the crowd.

Raucous laughter and cheers greeted the two as they straightened and a piece of towelling was thrown to the pair to dry off. Misto appeared back in the clearing and gestured making the pool disappear again leaving the clearing empty and dry.

Munk stood once more and announced. "Finally we have a presentation made by Nahimana and the huskies that have joined us here tonight."

As the silver and black tabby sat down all the lights in the clearing went off. A whispering began amongst the assembled cats; the sudden darkness brought back memories of unhappier times when such an event would precede a visit from Macavity. Abruptly a spotlight snapped on at the far entrance to the clearing illuminating a huge figure sitting on the mound of junk. Nahimana threw her head back and began to howl into the night, as she howled more lights turned on and targeted other huskies, as they came to light they joined their leader in her cry, until there were ten huskies howling to the moon. At some unseen signal all sound ceased. The assemblage stared at the majestic sight in awe. As one the huskies leapt off the piles and like the other dancers, shimmered in the air, when they landed however they still bore their pollicle forms but they were now the size of the cats in the clearing. What followed was a demonstration of precision drill and movement. It was simple but elegant and incredible in the synchronicity of the group movements. The pollicles moved in complex patterns that confused the eye but were somehow haunting and beautiful in their own way. It ended abruptly with the huskies shimmering to their hybrid forms in two precise lines standing tall and proud.

Silence reigned supreme. The assemblage didn't know how to react. They had never even conceived of anything like it before. The huskies seemed to be used to this type of reaction and took it simply as their due, at another one of those unseen signals the huskies turned as one and marched out of the clearing. Nahimana led the huskies back to the crowd shortly afterwards, a lot more relaxed after their performance. They were welcomed back in with pawshakes and praise for the dance.

Misto appeared on the tyre and shot a bolt of lightning into the sky. "Can I have everyone's attention please? It is now time for us to perform the ceremony for which we have gathered. Please be upstanding for my son Toby and his queen Dominica."

The two cats, still screened from each other by the crowd of cats made their way to the clearing. As they came into sight of each other they became mesmerised, everything bar the other faded from existence. Music began to sound from everywhere, Admentus who'd been manning the stereo all night looked confused as he hadn't started anything playing, and the two cats began to dance.

_Come stop your crying  
>It will be all right<br>Just take my hand Hold it tight_

_I will protect you_  
><em>from all around you<em>  
><em>I will be here<em>  
><em>Don't you cry<em>

_For one so small,_  
><em>you seem so strong<em>  
><em>My arms will hold you,<em>  
><em>keep you safe and warm<em>  
><em>This bond between us<em>  
><em>Can't be broken<em>  
><em>I will be here<em>  
><em>Don't you cry<em>

_'Cause you'll be in my heart_  
><em>Yes, you'll be in my heart<em>  
><em>From this day on<em>  
><em>Now and forever more<em>

_You'll be in my heart_  
><em>No matter what they say<em>  
><em>You'll be here in my heart, always<em>

_Why can't they understand_  
><em>the way we feel<em>  
><em>They just don't trust<em>  
><em>what they can't explain<em>  
><em>I know we're different but,<em>  
><em>deep inside us<em>  
><em>We're not that different at all<em>

_And you'll be in my heart_  
><em>Yes, you'll be in my heart<em>  
><em>From this day on<em>  
><em>Now and forever more<em>

_Don't listen to them_  
><em>'Cause what do they know<em>  
><em>We need each other,<em>  
><em>to have, to hold<em>  
><em>They'll see in time<em>  
><em>I know<em>

_When destiny calls you_  
><em>You must be strong<em>  
><em>I may not be with you<em>  
><em>But you've got to hold on<em>  
><em>They'll see in time<em>  
><em>I know<em>  
><em>We'll show them together<em>

_'Cause you'll be in my heart_  
><em>Yes, you'll be in my heart<em>  
><em>From this day on,<em>  
><em>Now and forever more<em>

_Oh, you'll be in my heart_  
><em>No matter what they say<em>  
><em>You'll be in my heart, always<em>  
><em>Always<em>

The two cats danced together, perfectly in step, dancing a classical waltz, altering as it went to include lifts and finish with a Pasodoble as the music changed to a more upbeat Spanish guitar. The two mates finished in a fierce embrace and sharing a passionate kiss, as they came back down to earth they became aware of the silence of the crowd. The couple had stunned the gathering; the sheer beauty and simplicity of their mating dance had gone beyond anything seen in decades. If anyone harboured any doubts at all over their suitability for one another, then they were quashed by the display witnessed that night.

Toby led Dom through the crowd to the tyre and formally presented his mate to his parents. "Mother, Father. I'd like to present to you my soulmate, Dominica." Dom made a similar presentation to her parents.

Jemima and Bombs approached the pair together and passed to their own child a small flat wooden box. The pair turned to each other and offered the box held in their paws. Opening the lids were two identical collars, dark leather with golden red spirals inlaid in the hide. One at a time each cat took the collar out of the offered cask and turned their back on their mate as the collar was fastened around their necks, before sharing a lingering kiss.

Old Deuteronomy stood and announced, "under the light of the moon and in the presence of all those gathered here this night, I pronounce Toby, son of Mistofollees and Jemima, and Dominica, daughter of Rum Tum Tugger and Bombarulina, to be mates now and forever. What the Everlasting Cat has joined, let nobody cast asunder!"

With that pronouncement, cats approached the couple and offered their own congratulations, quietly from most of the older cats but more boisterous from the younger.

After a while the crowd had gotten their congratulations out of the way and the proceeds of the hunt the toms had gone on were wheeled out into the clearing for a feast. The cooks had outdone themselves and prepared a multitude of delicacies for the party. From candied rat and honey squirrel to roast pigeon and walnut glazed trout. As everyone ate their fill and the plates were cleared away, Munkunstrap called for everyone's attention once more.

"My friends. We have one more task tonight. As you all know, some of the tribe will be leaving us for the adventure of a lifetime in a little over three weeks time on a task that the Everlasting Cat herself has entrusted us with. The group has been selected and I will call out their names. Please make your way up here when your name is called and remember that we didn't choose who it was to be going, the everlasting cat did.

"Gemma." Toby's sister came to stand beside him.

"Nix." The shadowcat stood and made her way over.

"Jacaranda." Rumpleteaser was a little concerned at hearing her daughter's name however it changed to relief a second later at the next name called out.

"Mungojerrie." He stood next to his nervous daughter and gave her a calming one armed hug.

"Alonzo." The black and white tom gave Cassandra a kiss and went to stand with the group.

"Twitch." Etcetera's son gave a small "woot" and jumped up to join his friends.

"Christo." The blind cat made his way over.

"Kamira." A ginger cat made her way over.

"And last but not least, Rumpleteaser." The queen gave a relieved sigh and joined her mate and offspring.

"These are the cats that EC has deemed to have accompany my grandson and granddaughter on this journey. Nahimana will also be sending a small group of huskies with them. We wish them all the luck in the world and may they travel safe and quickly so as to return to us soon."

Toby stood. "There is one more thing that we need to let everyone know before we break for the night. The everlasting cat gifted Dom and myself with one piece of magic that we believe will be helpful."

The new mates made their way to the centre of the clearing and stood there with closed eyes holding paws.

The air around them shimmered and the two cats morphed into their feline forms, however it did not end there. The shimmering became more intense and the two cats began to increase in size until they were larger than the huskies were earlier in the evening. The crowd expected it to stop there but were surprised when the shimmering became more intense again until it was difficult to see more than a vague blur through the disturbed air.

The shimmering began to ease and the assembled animals stared in complete shock.

"Dominica looked over at her mate approvingly. I guess we still need to iron out a couple of kinks."

Standing in the place of the two cats, with slightly feline features, was a completely nude male and female human.

…

**done**

…

**Now if you do want me to continue then I need to know about it.**

**If I don't get any responses then I'll put the story in mothballs.**

**The OC's mentioned in this chapter were:**

**Nix – from Liquorice Mitski and the Opera Ghost**

**Kamira – From MsCloverJellicle**

**Twitch – from M?**

**The two songs were **

**Elton John – Can You Feel the Love Tonight, and **

**Phil Collins (from the movie Tarzan) – You'll be in my heart.**

**I don't own either one.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Journeys Pt 5**

…

**Seeing as Licorice Mitski, MsCloverJellicle and Jelliclegirl009 asked so nicely I will continue the tale. This chapter should be the last one before the group leaves and will be short (I think it'll be short anyway but I babble on a bit, so who knows). My apologies for how long it's taken me to write it but work has been going nuts. I even took my laptop to Tasmania with me last weekend but it didn't even make it out of the bag, not that the copious amounts of beer we drank at night had anything to do with that at all...  
><strong>

**One thing with the Jellicles. They do go through the heat cycle, however it is not as intense as with normal cats but it is the only time that the queens are fertile, anything else they do is pure practice, which is enjoyable in its own right.**

**So at the end of the last chapter Toby and Dom reveal a spell that can give the animals a human form with one small hiccup.**

…

_Standing in the place of the two cats, with slightly feline features, was a completely nude male and female human._

Toby stood there trying to work out what they'd done wrong with the spell. "We did everything that the EC told us. Why don't we have clothes?" he asked himself.

Dominica just wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. She turned from the amazed cats to Toby and paused. "He really is a fine figure of a man. Isn't he?" she thought to herself, getting a small glowing warmth spreading through her abdomen and up to her chest. Coming to her senses, she spoke to her new mate. "Toby, can we change back please?"

Toby looked up from his musing at his mate and whistled to himself under his breath. "Woah. Have I lucked out her or what?" He realised what he was thinking and gave himself a mental uppercut, blushing mightily. "Ah yep. Take my hand darling."

The two naked humans clasped hands and went through the same shimmering effect, reversing the spell until the cats resumed their original forms. The rest of the crowd stood there is a state of shock. Jacaranda tugged on the fur on her mother's arm. "Are we going to have to do that too mum?"

Teaser shuddered at the thought but admitted. "As much as I don't want to I think we will, bub."

Munkunstrap and Mistofollees approached the new mates after they resumed their Jellicle forms.

"So that's what the Everlasting Cat taught you two?" Munk asked.

"Um yes, but we thought we'd end up with clothes. It's just a little cold without them." Toby said.

"Not to mention that seeing him without them, put a few strange thoughts in my head" said Dominica.

"I can imagine my dear. Humans seem like they're always in heat." Misto laughed.

"Dad. Can you conjure up some human style clothes for us to use?" Toby asked his father.

"I suppose I can but how are you going to get clothing for yourselves on this trip?" he replied.

At this Nahimana entered the conversation. "We can look after that. We Pollicles have access to a surprisingly large amount of human money and can use that to purchase anything that this group will need."

"How did you get your hands on human money?" Toby asked.

"Well, a long time ago whilst we were on a run, we saved the lives of a human family who'd been stranded in the wilderness. They stayed with us for several months and one day one of our pups shifted in front of them and revealed our secrets. Instead of reacting violently, this family accepted us and in gratitude they gifted us with a large amount of yellow stone that they seem to prize. The older human male even said that he would 'invest' it in an identity we could use and it would be available to us if we ever needed it. Now we do."

"How much is there exactly?" Demeter, who'd come in at the tail end of the conversation, asked.

"Well the last letter I had from the investment company that had our accounts before I left home 17 years ago had our balance at over 650 million dollars. I imagine it's grown a little more since then."

The figure shocked the queen, who'd had a little bit of exposure to how the humans valued the paper they used to get goods through her owners, a couple of bankers. "That is more than a 'substantial' amount."

"Yes, well it was over a hundred years ago that we were revealed and it was a very large amount of the stone they gifted us with" replied Nahimana, "I know, and now we can access it with more freedom than ever before. In the past we had to conduct everything remotely through letters and more recently the internet but now we can do it face to face with the humans."

Mistofollees broke in. "All this talk of money is all well and good but we need to know if the rest of your group can be taught this spell, and can it also be taught to the rest of us that are not going?"

Dominica fielded the question. "Yes. We actually need the services of Tanto and Cori's mystic abilities to pass on the spell. It's not something that we cannot really put into words. After they pass it through to the rest of our group, they should be able to give it to the adults in the tribe."

"Well we'd best get on with it then" the tuxedo cat said.

"Not just yet please" requested the red queen. "You're forgetting the other event that happened tonight, but I can tell you right now that it's right in the forefront of Toby and my minds."

"Oh" chorused the surrounding cats, with a wide assortment of grins.

"Best we don't keep you two out then. Off you go" laughed Munk. "We can start in the morning, or whenever you pair show your faces."

With that the newly mated cats strolled paw in paw towards their den, and the other Jellicles continued to discuss the events of the evening before proceeding to their own dens to settle in for the evening.

...

Silence fell across the junkyard, suddenly broken by a cry. "TOBY! Don't stop."

Munkunstrap broke into a huge laugh, echoed by his mate Demeter's giggles by his side.

…

The next afternoon, Toby and Dom hadn't made the morning appointment after all, the travelling group gathered together in one of the more remote clearings of the junkyard. Together with the group were Munkunstrap, Mistofollees, Demeter, Jemima, Nahimana, Cori and Tanto. All other cats had been asked not to impede the training by stopping in to watch.

"What we are going to do is to provide a direct mind link between Toby or Dom and two of the rest of you." Cori revealed. "That way we should be able to get through this part pretty quickly. Then it's just a matter of practice."

Kamira raised her paw. "How much are you going to transfer? I've got some pretty awful memories of my father that I don't want to relive let alone pass to anyone else."

"There might be just a small amount of leakage, but we will try to minimise it." Tanto admitted.

"I don't know if I can do that. Nobody needs to know what Macavity did to me as a kitten." Kamira was very unsettled, and it took a lot of comforting from the only other cat in the clearing who'd been under the control of their old departed enemy, Demeter, to calm her down.

"We'll link to you last; you can see what it does to the rest of us and make your decision then." Toby said.

Kamira nodded uncertainly, clutching Demeters paws in a death grip as the two mystic cats began the transfers.

Toby and Dominica stood in the centre of the clearing together with Cori and Tanto. "We've decided that we would go tom to tom and queen to queen just to try to mitigate any unforeseen problems. So we'll start with Jerrie and Teaser first."

The two older cats gulped and exchanged a brief look before coming over to the four cats in the centre. Cori and Tanto raised their paws and rested them on each subject's forehead. All six cats closed their eyes simultaneously and fell into a trance. A few minutes passed and the mystic cats lowered their arms. "It is done" Tanto said, then asked the orange calico queen "Do you feel any different?"

"I, I don't think so" she looked at Dominica. "Did he really do that after the party?"

Dom, looked at Teaser startled. "Wha…"

"Don't worry dear. I won't tell a soul. But you young tom." Teas directed her attention to Toby "are a very naughty little boy."

Toby just groaned and turned to Cori. "Maybe we need to tune the transfer down a little." Cori said. "Next. Alonzo and Jacaranda."

The mystic cats went through all the gathered Jellicles and performed the mind transfer on them all before coming finally to Kamira. There'd been a small amount of memory crossover from all the mind links, though none quite as substantial as the initial, Teaser was still giving Toby amused glances.

"I can't do it." Kamira sobbed.

"How about this then" suggested Demeter. "Link with me. You cannot show me anything that I didn't go through myself. I have accepted what your father did to me. I know what it took to run away from that hell you called a home all those years ago. Trust me."

Kamira bit her lip and went over to stand with Tantomile and Demeter.

Tanto raised her arms and placed her paw on Demter's head and went to do the same to Kamira, who flinched at the first touch, before her paw was taken in a comforting grip by the older queen.

Tanto placed the two queens into a trance and performed the transfer. As the queens' eyes opened, Kamira's immediately teared up and she fell into Demeters arms. "I am sorry, I am so so sorry."

"Shhh" whispered Dem. "It's alright. It was a long time ago and he's gone. He can never hurt either of us again."

Toby cleared his throat to draw everyone's attention. "You now all have the knowledge of the spell in your minds. Now we need to practice it. We'll start off slowly and just try it to the first conversion, it's just an extension of what the other tribes do when they visit us and shrink. Everyone spread out a little and concentrate on the change. We just need to grow in size."

The group shimmered into their cat forms and looked at Toby standing in front of them. He nodded and a larger shimmer formed around the cats. Slowly they all began to grow in size until they all approached the mass of a large hound. Once the air cleared Toby and Dom went amongst them inspecting the alterations they'd done.

The cats ran through this change several times before taking it to the next level. Due to the foreign feelings that they'd encountered when Toby and Dom transformed earlier the decision was made to only have one cat change at a time. Twitch was first.

He transformed into a large feline form to begin with and then began morphing into a humanoid. As the air cleared the cats broke into a laugh.

"You need to concentrate of being completely human." Toby said around a grin, "and humans don't have a cats ears and a tail. Transform back and you can try it again."

The abashed tom/human began to shimmer and changed back to the large feline form, before Toby had him make another attempt.

The practice went on and on throughout the afternoon before everyone became somewhat proficient.

"Well that's it for today." Munkunstrap said, "you can continue to practice but only in private clearings and you must have another member of the group with you when you do. Tomorrow I'll need Toby, Dom, Tanto and Cori here again to teach this to the Huskies. Have a good night's sleep. I think we all earned it."

The cats began to file out of the clearing before Toby remembered one last point. "Oh I almost forgot. Once we leave we will have to be very careful. The spell will only last for 24 hours at a time, after that we will need to change back to our hybrid forms for an hour. Don't forget."

…

The next day the four cats went through the process with the pollicles that were assigned to go with the group of Jellicles. Skye, Jericho's shy white sister, Jericho himself, much to his mates dismay, and another female by the name of Olive who had a patchy olive toned coat, interposed with the white and grey normally associated with the huskies. Christo in particular had bonded with Olive as they both shared a common trait. Olive was mute due to an accident as a pup.

Whilst the training was going on Nahimana with the assistance of Mistofollees for clothing, had managed to go out into the human world and had gathered enough clothing to see the group through the first few days. They'd had to wait until the sizes of the groups human forms had been worked out, before getting any clothing. She had also made contact with her bankers and had begun organising travel documentation for the group. Nobody really wanted to know how the passports would be sourced but they were assured that they would be ready and waiting before the group left.

Over the next three weeks the party practiced transforming and performing tasks that most humans seemed to take for granted. Luckily the agility and dexterity of their feline forms had transposed over and they quickly got used to writing and walking in shoes (though no one really liked it that much.) The thing in the end that gave them the most trouble was, of all things, eating as humans.

"How the Bast do they manage to do this?" Alonzo threw down his knife and fork and picked up the chop on the plate in front of him in his fingers before they were struck sharply by Cassandra with the flat of her knife.

"No fingers" she said. She'd ranted and raved about Alonzo going haring off without her before resigning herself into the fact that he was going away and deciding to make damn sure he'd be up to speed on being 'human.' "You only have a week left to learn all this. You need to be ready."

Alonzo grumbled and picked up his knife and fork again.

The rest of the human form cats just grinned and continued to try to cut up their dinner.

Dominica abruptly left the table and ran behind the nearest junkpile where she was loudly sick. Toby, Demeter and Jemima rushed to her side and supported her as she retched, holding her long red hair from her face.

She straightened and she and Toby changed forms so to take her to Victoria's medical den for some tests.

An examination found nothing physically wrong with her to upset her stomach and the supposed that it might be stress from the upcoming journey, however Victoria had a small suspicion and performed one final test before letting the pair go. "I'll have the results for you in an hour. In the meantime take her back to her den and let her lie down. I'll be over later."

The pair made their way back to their den and Dom lay down for a sleep. True to her word Victoria showed up about an hour later with news.

"Well I know why you were sick" she said.

"Well?"

"Congratulations. You're pregnant."

The newly informed parents looked at each other in shock and worry. They both knew that Dom had been in season a couple of weeks before but they thought they'd been careful, well as careful as newlyweds could be anyway. What effect would the transformations have on the new kittens?

Oh Bast!

…

**Fin**

…

**Well what did you think? Next chapter they all leave. If you want to read it then you'd better hit that little button, just down there \|/\|/\|/ and let me know.**

**A couple more OC's are showing their faces now.**

**Kamira who was donated by – MsCloverJellicle**

**And Olive who belongs to – iBounce, who actually submitted her as a cat but graciously allowed me to change her into a pollicle.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Journeys Pt 6.**

**Thanks once again to MsCloverJellicle for your kind review. I hope you like the way I brought her into the story. Em, I am glad that you like it. I'll expand on the seasonal change thing in the next few chapters as we're approaching winter in the junkyard and they are going somewhere a little warmer. Hmm I wonder where they'll be for Christmas?**

**Please note that during the travels I will be using the stereotypes for the countries they visit. If you don't like it then I can't do much to help I'm afraid. It's the way the rest of the world sees you. I hope that I don't offend anyone but if it does then I'm sorry.**

**The rating is being changed to T due to violence and swearing. You'll know it when you get there.**

…

_What effect would the transformations have on the new kittens?_

_Oh Bast!_

…

Dominica burst into tears, overwhelmed by the shock of the moment and fear over what would happen to their unborn kittens.

Toby immediately moved to comfort his mate and looked over at the older white queen. "Vic. Can you please keep this quiet for a while until we work out how to handle it? I'll inform Munk, Dem and Old Deuteronomy myself but if anyone asks, just say that she's eaten something that doesn't agree with her."

Victoria, disapprovingly, agreed. "I'll give you a list of bland food you should be eating. Try to avoid any transforming until we have a better idea of what it might do to the kits."

The tribe nurse made up a short list of foods and left it on the table as she exited the den, leaving the two concerned cats sitting on the bed talking.

"What are we going to do Toby?" Dom asked of her mate.

"Well we've got to go on this trip. We don't really have a choice with that. We'll just have to take extra care of you."

"But the kits?"

"I don't know. I can't believe that the EC would put you or the kittens at risk. I'll try to get great granddad to commune with the EC and get some sort of answer, maybe we'll be lucky. In the meantime we'll just do what Vicky said and keep you from transforming unless you absolutely have to."

Silently Toby was railing at fate. This was supposed to be one of the happiest moments of his young life and here he was scared shitless and couldn't show it. He had to put on a front for his mate who was collapsing in fear before him. He remained with Dom calming her and gently petting and nuzzling her fur until she fell into a restless sleep, then made his way quietly out of the den. Encountering his sister Gemma outside, he asked her to sit with Dom so that she wouldn't be alone when she woke up. Assuring his sister that she was just feeling sick and stressed about the trip, he also asked her to let Dom know that he had gone to talk to Munk and Old D.

The grey patched tom gathered his grandparents and went in search of Old Deuteronomy. Eventually finding the extremely old tom; sitting in his favourite sunny spot on top of the nearby vicarage wall.

"Sir. We need to discuss something with you" he called up.

Old D rose to his feet and surprisingly spry for such an old cat made his way down to where the other three were waiting.

"What can I do for you my boy?" The Jellicle patriarch asked.

"I need to beg a favour and let the three of you in on some important news that has just come to light" said the teen, "but it needs the strictest privacy."

Intrigued the old tomcat led the others in through a hole in the wall and over to a headstone at the vicarage graveyard. "This is the most private and peaceful place that I know of. Now what is the problem?"

"Well. First things first." Toby turned to Munk and Dem, "You're going to be great grandparents."

Demeter immediately hugged her grandson. "Congratulations, Dom and you will be wonderful parents." It was then that she noticed the look on his face. "What's wrong? Oh the trip."

"Yes. The trip" deadpanned Toby. "Deuteronomy. Is there anyway that you can commune with the Everlasting Cat to find out if the transformations will have a detrimental effect on our kittens?" A hint of the stress and worry he was concealing crept into his voice.

"Gladly my boy. Just give me a minute and I'll get right on it" assured the old cat.

Old D settled on top of the gravestone and closed his eyes, falling into a trance. After about a half hour, just as Toby was going to give up, a feeling of great power and awe spread from the old cat. Deuteronomy's eyes opened and the three cats stepped back from the shining white glow that appeared. An ethereal female voice issued from the old cat. "Ask your questions and do not delay my children, I do not wish to tax my faithful servant any more than I must."

The cats, taken aback by this visitation, paused speechless, after all it wasn't often that you were graced by the embodiment of your god. The voice spoke again. "Ask. Ask without delay."

Toby finally spoke up. "My lady. I wish to know if it is essential for my mate to accompany us on this journey. Also will the spell of transformation have any detrimental effects upon our unborn kittens?"

The old cats head faced the worried father to be. "Dominica must accompany you. Events must occur for which she will play a part. Your children will not be unduly affected by the transformations as they will not transform with you essentially remaining cats until they are born, and her pregnancy will proceed at a natural pace." For some reason a hint of sadness crept into the voice, however it was just a hint and the cats all shrugged it off as a figment of their imagination. "Now I must leave my servant. You have your answers. Farewell."

Old D closed his eyes and laid his head down for a moment. Shortly after he lifted it again and looked at the cats with his normal blue orbs. "Well that was exciting, though I'd prefer not to do it again for a while." He went to jump off the headstone and kind of just collapsed off the side to be caught by Munk and Toby. "I think I need to go and lie down for a bit. Can you help me home please son?"

Munkunstrap acquiesced and supported Old D as he made his way back to his den as Dem and Toby headed back to see if Dom had woken yet and inform her of the news and relieve her of worry.

…

It was the night before the departure and all the travellers were going over the final travel plans in Munkunstraps den. Toby, who'd been assigned the role of leader for the trip was addressing the group.

"So we all will be leaving in human form from here and jumping on the express train to Paris. I know we were supposed to fly from Heathrow but the early snow has put paid to that. It works out quite well as the exit procedures at Charles 'de Gaul are a little more lax that those at Heathrow."

"From Paris we fly through to Hong Kong, it's this spot here on the map, and then from there to Brisbane in Australia. We'll be in Hong Kong for about 3 hours. I suggest that you take this time to change back and rest. We've managed to get some private rooms at one of the lounges at the airport."

"From Hong Kong we fly through to Brisbane in Jerries home country, where we'll board a ship that will take us to Lifou where we will disembark and a local human will then ferry us to a nearby island where we will meet the dolphin tribe. Kwaksel left two weeks ago to prepare them for our arrival and should have arrived today. Why he wanted to swim the entire way I don't know, but he did."

"Has everyone got their travel documents and the bank cards that Nahimana managed to procure for us? Don't forget your pin numbers I have them all written down but please try to remember. I have no idea when we will be back but hopefully it won't be long."

"Any questions? No? Ok then. Everyone head back to your dens and get some rest. Tomorrow will be a big day."

The various cats and dogs headed out to spend their last night with someone special.

…

The next morning dawned cold, wet and windy. The travellers moved to the clearings set aside for them to transform within and began to morph into human form. Toby was the first to do it in the toms group, they had been separated by sex due to a few unfortunate and highly embarrassing physical reactions by the toms if they were around an unclothed queen. Being the shameless cats that they were Tugger and Bomb, once taught the spell, had gone off and worked out why the human bodies reacted the way they did. Upon reporting their results to Munkunstrap and Demeter, the travellers had been forbidden from appearing naked in front of one another, unless they were mated of course.

Toby quickly got dressed into the heavy winter clothing that they'd managed to get a hold of, to shield himself from the cold air and snow. "Don't muck around when you change guys. It's bloody freezing without fur" he said to the other cats.

One by one the remaining toms changed to human and got dressed, quickly. After the last tom had finished donning multiple layers of clothing they made their way out to the central clearing where they waited around for the queens. They watched the assorted Jellicles gather around for a farewell, quietly amused at how much smaller their friends all looked. Finally after what seemed an age the queens appeared from the other side of the clearing and the group made their final farewells to the tribe. Shouldering their backpacks they all made their way to the nearby train station from where Skimbleshanks used to ride the trains before making the journey to Heavyside. The group of 14 got their tickets from the booking counter and boarded the express train to Paris, checking in their bags and thanking their lucky stars that Teaser and Jerrie had listened to Skimbles stories and knew what to do at the station, the group boarded the train and got out of the cold. Settling into their seats, many of the group drifted off to sleep for the two and a half hour trip. Getting to Paris they hopped onto a local train which took them to the concrete buildings that was Charles 'de Gaul. Toby and Jerrie had to speak quite a few times to Twitch and Alonzo when they bristled at the rudeness shown by the Parisians on the train, especially after seeing an army patrol moving through the train.

The group finally got to the airport and checked in at the Cathay Pacific counter where they were relieved of their bags. Passing through customs and immigration, a tense moment for the cats as they really weren't sure if their documents would stand up to scrutiny, they made their way to the business lounge where they waited for their flight to be called.

Finally their flight was announced and they made their way to the assigned gate. Twitch seeing the small queen Gemma pushed and jostled just one time to many snapped. He grabbed the thin tall man that had pushed his way through the group nearly knocking the young queen down, and put a large finger an inch from the mans nose. "Watch where you are going idiot!" The finger slowly curled back into a huge fist, which was shaken menacingly in front of the thin human. The mans eyes traced their way from the fist to the eyes of the huge dark haired youth in front of him, his sneer of contempt dying as he contemplated the immediate future being promised in the youths blazing stare. "Pardon moi, mademoiselle" the man muttered, but it wasn't until the youths slim, silver haired, companion laid a hand on his arm that the youth relaxed and let the Frenchman go.

"Calm down Twitch or you'll get us in trouble" admonished Toby, who silently admitted to himself that he wasn't too far from snapping himself, the sheer press of people was affecting all the cats.

"I'll try" came the response.

The group made its way to their flight and boarded without further incident, settling into their business class seats for the 12 hour flight to Hong Kong. The group entertained themselves in various ways throughout the flights, Toby and Dom sat together and went over kitten names, Twitch became fascinated with the movies and watched Jackie Chan flicks the entire flight. Nix and Jacaranda played games and watched Harry Potter, engrossed in the magic. Teaser and Jerrie slept and Alonzo, Gemma and Kamira read various books and listened to music.

The short stop in Hong Kong allowed all the cats to recharge their batteries and resume their natural forms for the requisite hour. To their delight they managed to get some raw tuna from a nearby food kiosk and all fell to with a vengeance whilst cats.

The following 9 hour flight was quiet as most of the group elected to sleep, only awakening upon approach to Brisbane airport when the flight attendants prepared the aircraft for landing.

The cats were completely unprepared for the wave of heavy heat that hit them as they stepped off the plane. The group were still dressed for the northern winter and none of them had even contemplated it being a different season in the southern hemisphere, Jerrie although being born down under had forgotten as well. Brisbane was in the middle of a heat wave in fact. After getting their bags a mass shedding of coats, jumpers and scarves was the order of the day and they were packed away until the return home.

They made their way through customs and after an inordinate amount of attention from the drug dogs, probably due to the strange scent they were putting out confusing the poor animals, the group passed into the arrivals area where they waited for the bus that had been organised to pick them up.

They'd been standing in the arrivals area for a few minutes when a small man in shorts and a very bright orange shirt approached them. "Excuse me but are you the Jellicle party?"

"Yes" Toby replied. "We are." 

"Oh good. My name is Pat Whelan. I'm your lift for today and tomorrow. Can I help anyone with their bags? How was your flight…" The small man kept up a long stream of inane small talk all the way to the hotel that they'd be staying in that night.

The group checked into the hotel and went to their rooms to change out of the heavy clothing that they'd flown in, glad to put on something cooler. Each single cat had a room to themselves and the mated couples would share. After a brief rest the group gathered in Jerries room and discussed their plans for the evening.

"Well we only have one night here and we need to get the bus to the docks at 9am tomorrow to get on the ship so what do you want to do tonight?" asked Jericho.

The group decided that they'd just have a simple walk around town doing the gaping tourist thing and get some dinner before getting some more rest. They decided to meet up in the foyer at 6.30 and head out.

After a lovely dinner down at a seafood restaurant by the river the cats walked through the nearby Southbank parklands, engrossed by the difference in the sounds and feel of the open areas. They eventually began to make their way back to their hotel and were passing a building echoing with loud music and strange odours when a small group of humans interposed themselves within the group.

"Hey there baby!" yelled one of the human males. "Come and have a drink."

The humans, obviously intoxicated in one way or another, had separated the toms from the queens and were advancing on the attractive cats. Dominica looked around the side of the man that was approaching her at Toby with entreaty in her eyes.

"Excuse me sir, we're just leaving." Toby attempted to get past the man to his mate but was barred by a tattooed arm which pushed him back.

"Ease up sunshine, I'm trying to talk to the pretty lady" said the man in a slightly menacing tone.

"The pretty lady is my wife and we are leaving!" Toby replied a little more forcefully and tried to get around the man to his mate once again.

"Fuckin' Pommy Prick!" muttered the drunk, and swung a punch which clipped Toby in the back of the head, knocking him down.

Toby bounced to his feet and hissed in menace at his assailant who just laughed "come on then ya pussy!" not knowing how appropriate the curse was.

The rest of the mans friends screened the rest of the cats from approaching the three in the street. As the man turned to Toby, Dom tried to run around him to her mate and was stopped by a quick backhand from the man "Siddown bitch!"

It was at this point that Toby lost it; the drunk stood no chance at all against the enraged Jellicle, who'd retained all his strength, agility and co-ordination from his hybrid form, not to mention 12 yeas of combat training at the hands of the best fighters in the Jellicle tribe. At one point two of the drunks friends picked up debris off the ground and went to interpose themselves in the one sided fight but were stopped by a huge hand on each of their shoulders. "You don't want to do that" Twitch said and the men gulped and dropped their weapons.

Eventually, Alonzo with the help of the bouncers from the pub pulled Toby off the drunk and the group was hurried on its way. The bouncers had seen the entire incident and only got involved when it seemed that their help was required to calm down the youth. "Don't worry about this dickhead" one of the bouncers said to Alonzo. "We'll give the coppers a ring and he can sober up in the lockup."

Alonzo thanked the head bouncer and hurried off to catch up with the rest of his group. Toby was supporting his mate who was sporting a swelling eye and small cut on her forehead where the drunks ring had caught her. The group made it back to the hotel with no further incident and after being spotted by the concierge were bustled up to their rooms and a local doctor was sent for to treat Dom's eye. A bit of betadine and a bandaid later together with an admonishment to Toby to watch for signs of concussion, the doctor left and the cats all settled in for the night.

The next morning the group checked out of the hotel, confusing the staff when cleaning the rooms as the beds were not used and there was a strange amount of cat fur on most of the pillows. They made their way by bus to the P&O docks whereby they boarded their ship to French Polynesia and their first meeting with another animal tribe.

…

**fin**

…

**Well there you go. The first part of the journey is nearly complete. I hope you enjoyed the flight and please leave any comments in the suggestion box below. Just hit that review button and let me know what you think.**

**I'm also after suggestions as to what they can do on the islands. I have a couple of ideas but the prime focus of the trip is in other areas and I'm at a bit of a loss as to events to portray here. PM me with ideas.**

**Oh and we will also see a little romance and angst as the story progresses. Send me a pairing that you'd like to see between the cats.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Journeys Pt 7.**

**I'm on a roll at the moment and kicking on with the next chapter. Hopefully I'll get it up tonight or tomorrow night. (3 in 2 days?)**

**Oh I noticed in the last chapter that I didn't include the pollicles in the descriptions of the group. Please just take it as said that they are there, it's just easier to call the group the cats.**

…

The Cats made their way to the gangway to the P&O cruise ship, the Pacific Pearl, nervously. There was just something about all that water that was freaking the Jellicles out. Times like this Toby really wished his brother was in his place, he was the water crazy one after all. One of the ship officers, a large man sporting a Scottish accent, upon seeing the nervous expressions of the cats approached and began to reassure the group.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I am Peter Shanks, the second officer of the Pacific Pearl and I couldn't help but notice that you were not looking that comfortable with the idea of a cruise."

Jericho glanced at the anxious cats and laughed with the officer. "They're not that happy about being on a big metal tube in the middle of billions of tons of water" and then in a much lower voice "only a couple of the group can swim you see. We'd have preferred to fly to our destination but that is not really an option."

"Ah I see" Peter said. "Let me assure you all that The Pearl is one of the finest ships in the P&O fleet and has never had so much as a breakdown let alone a major problem. You are perfectly safe on board and the crew will do everything in their power to ensure your comfort. May I ask what cabins you have been assigned?"

Jericho went to Toby and took the travel documents out of his hands. "Um. If I'm reading this correctly we are in 11128 to 11140."

"Ah. Then you must be the dance troupe that we've been told to expect?" said the officer, the senior officers took pride in knowing the details of the guests that were staying in the suites.

"Yes, we're the Jellicle group" answered Jericho with a slight grin at his leader's in house joke at the cover story they were using to travel.

"Jellicles? Like the poems?" asked Peter.

Jerrie upon hearing this approached the pair, "Poems?"

"Yes the poems by TS Eliot about the Jellicle Cats. I believe it's called 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats' we have a copy in the ships library if you would like to see it?" said Peter.

"I'd like that. We didn't actually know where the group name came from. It has kind of been passed down to us; the troupe is kind of a family business." Jerrie admitted.

"That is not a problem at all sir. I will have some of our crew show you to your cabins and another go to the library and bring the book to you." Second officer Shanks then looked around and spotted one of the porters. "Gregory. I have 14 of our priority guests ready to board. Gather some porters and escort them to their cabins please."

Gregory a small Asian crewman jumped to obey the order and together with half a dozen other crew took the bags and the group of cats to the cabins that they had been assigned, leaving them in their rooms to freshen up and settle in whilst the rest of the passengers boarded, a process that took several hours.

Shortly after they had settled into their cabins a knock was heard at the door to the one occupied by Jerrie. He opened the door and was presented with a large book, thanking the crewman he went to the bed and with the help of Teaser began to read. After only a couple of pages he became amazed and then alarmed at what they found. The book, though old, was about them. Or, rather, it was about the Jellicles years ago. It had stories on Old Dueteronomy, Munkunstrap, Demeter, Jenny, even Misto and Macavity, but how could this be? He looked at the clock and quickly worked out what the time would be back in London, 5 pm Brisbane time was 6 am in London, before reaching for the phone. Before the cats had left a mobile phone had been sourced in case of emergency and the group needed to contact the tribe in London. It was to be left in the care of Old D as most of the other cats had duties and responsibilities that would preclude their keeping the phone with them.

Old D answered on the third ring. "Yes? Who is this?"

"D. It's Jerrie and I think we have a problem." Jerrie went on to explain, "You see we have found this book that has all the Jellicle cats in it. It's pretty old but it describes most of us perfectly?"

Old D replied over the phone. "Does the author go by the name T. S. Eliot by any chance?"

"Yes, yes he does."

"Well that's ok then. Mr Eliot was a human that discovered us back, oh about 80 years ago. We managed to cast a spell that made him think he dreamed it all, and last I heard he wrote up a series of poems that he believed he thought up. It was after that when we created the sanctuary spell for the Junkyard."

"So we're ok then?" Jerrie asked.

"Yes it won't be a problem. Is there anything else? No? Well good luck." After that Old D hung up the phone.

Jerrie turned to his mate "Did you understand that then Tease?"

"Yes darling, but we'd better let the rest of the group know about it in case they get asked."

Jerrie called the group together and explained the situation.

Just as he finished there was a loud blast of an air horn outside and the ship began to move. They were off.

…

The first night on board the ship was horrendous. Just about all the cats were ill. The only one seemingly immune was Nix. The shadow cat had just finished her transformation and was making her way to see someone on the crew to find out if there was anything they could do about the sea sickness.

She came across the officer Peter Shanks, who had met them on the docks prior to boarding and asked him for any help he could give.

"Well, Ma'am. The most common treatment is ginger, however normally you begin taking that up to a week before boarding and continue while on board and it's a bit late now. One thing I do swear by is these little acupressure wrist bands that you wear. I don't know how they work but I know that they do. I can have a crewman bring several to your cabins and we can see if they have any effect."

Nix was extremely grateful. The noxious odours in the room she was sharing with Gemma was starting to get to her. Shortly after the wristbands arrived and she was able to get one on all the group their stomachs had subsided enough for them to transform and rest. Once they'd regained human form the wristbands were worn again and continued to help with the queasiness, after another day they could be safely removed as the cats had found their sea legs.

Once they were feeling better the cats explored the ship, most of them finding something that would engross them for the journey. All the queens decided early that a spa treatment and make over was required and the toms decided to utilise the on board gym and running machines. Toby approached their new friend, Peter, to ask if there was any type of open space by which they could practice their dancing and maintain their flexibility. They were given time in the ships auditorium to practice when it wasn't being used for any of the other activities on board. The cats were very grateful to the crew for the opportunity to maintain their fitness and would often have an off duty crewmember or one of the on board entertainers stop by to watch them practice.

A few days after leaving port a small storm blew up and the seas became slightly rougher. The cats still a little nervous were sitting together in one of the cabins playing cards when the ship suddenly and violently heeled over to one side, tumbling the cats off the chairs and beds into the wall. Luckily no one was injured, just scared. A few minutes later the voice of the Captain came over the shipwide intercom assuring the passengers that everything was fine and that the ship had just been hit by a freak wave caused by the storm and if anyone had been injured to please see a crewmember immediately.

The storm blew itself out rapidly and the waves became calm once more. The cats went down to the auditorium for their daily practice and halfway through their dancing were approached by Peter Shanks and another human who'd watched them practice a few times but had never approached them before. Peter explained that the woman, whose name was Jo Lorum was the ships artistic director and she had a problem that the group might be able to help with.

The cats gathered around to hear the issue.

Jo explained that her regular troop of entertainers were practicing their routines when the wave had hit, ships dancers must be able to cope with nearly any type of conditions, and several of them had been hurt and were not able to perform for a couple of nights.

The cats confused a little asked what this had to do with them.

Jo took a deep breath. "I've approached the Captain and asked if I could approach you to see if you could perform for the ship. I've watched you practice and you guys are good. Better than the dancers I have her to be honest. I wouldn't have done this but I'm a little desperate. With the injuries I have a 45 minute break in a 2 hour show that I need to fill. The Captain has told me that he will comp your return journey if you can help us out, he knows that you are leaving us at Lifou but we would be extremely grateful if you could do a show a night until we get there. With luck our regular performers will be back on their feet after that."

Toby spoke up. "What do you expect us to perform? Something of yours or ours?"

"You can do whatever you like as long as you fill the time in" assured Jo.

"Give me a few minutes to discuss this with our group." Toby led the cats to the back of the stage and asked, "What do you think? Should we do this?"

"We're supposed to be a dance and singing troupe. How would it look if we didn't take an opportunity to perform?" said Kamira. "And it's only for 2 more nights."

"That's true" murmured the group.

"What would we perform though?" Christo asked.

Toby sat there for a minute. "I know. How about we …? And we can do our costumes up like this." He went on to explain his idea and smiles began to spread across the faces of the cats and pollicles.

Toby went back to the two anxious humans and told them that they would perform in the show. He told them that they'd bring their own music and perform some original material.

…

That night the word had gotten around that there was a problem with some of the entertainers and that a group of the passengers had stepped in to fill the gap in the night's performance. As such the auditorium was packed.

Toby looked out through the curtains. "Bast but there is a lot of people out there." He turned to the other cats, "are you ready?"

…

The stage lights dimmed and a figure made his way out of the side of the stage, half crawling, half sliding along. Upon getting about a third of the way across he stopped and stood with his arms out stretched. As he stood there, several other figures crept out of the wings converging in various darkened poses on the stage.

A spotlight clicked on the original figure to reveal a dancer done up in some kind of cat suit and face mask. The costume was so realistic that some of the audience could swear that they saw the tail move by itself and the fur and ears ripple independently.

"Are you blind when your born?" sang Toby.

Another light clicked on "Can you see in the dark" sang Dominica.

The rest of the cats joined in and began to sing various parts of the songs performed every year at the Jellicle ball. They sang the Greeting song, the Naming of Cats, The invitation to the Jellicle Ball performed by Olive and Christo. The Welcome of Old Deuteronomy with Jericho dressed up like the Jellicle leader. Gemma reprised her mother's song "Moments of Happiness" and Jerrie and Teaser performed their signature song and dance.

They finished with a standing ovation from the audience and after taking their bows moved directly into the dressing rooms where they proceeded to change back to their human forms. Dom embraced Toby in excitement and the other cats congratulated him on the idea to perform in their hybrid forms, just adjusted to a larger size. After a suitable amount of time the group emerged to an astounded Jo Lorum who immediately wanted to offer them a permament berth on the ship which they regretfully declined.

The performance was repeated the next day after they were convinced to do a midday and mid afternoon show before a final performance at night. The cats, far from being upset at being asked to perform, loved the attention and lapped up the chance to sing and dance.

But all things must end and the day after their final performance, the ship arrived at the island of Lifou and the group departed the ship. With there being no dock at the island capable of handling the ship the passengers were ferried to the shore by the ships tenders, small boats capable of carrying about 75 passengers on the 5 minute transit. The cats made their way to the tender for their departure and were astounded to see passengers and crew lining the walkways giving them a rousing round of applause as they left. It was all quite touching and brought a tear to many of the queens eyes.

Once they'd been ferried to the docks they were approached by a dark skinned islander who'd been hired to take the group out to a nearby island. He ushered them onto a local fishing boat for the 2 hour cruise and they set off. It was during this trip that the cats, all of them this time, found out how grateful they should be for the size of the ship they traveled on before as the small boat bobbed and swung even in slight swells, resulting in them all adding a long stream of burley to the water and the delight of the fishermen who immediately took advantage of the feeding frenzy trailing the small boat.

After what seemed an interminable trip the fishing boat approached their destination and the cats were offloaded on a small jetty of a tiny island. They made their way up the beach to the bordering palm trees and were greeted by a familiar grey skinned figure.

"Welcome my friends to the Dolphin tribe!" said Kwaksel.

They'd made it.

…

**done**

**They probably won't be on the island for long. I honestly don't have a lot for them to do there so if anyone has any suggestions then please let me know.**

**Also I am very very greedy with my reviews so please hit that little button below and leave me one. I even accept anonymous reviews so don't be shy.**

**And a cookie to anyone who spots the word play in the names.  
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**Thanks.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Journey's Pt 8.**

…

**It's been pointed out to me that Lifou isn't in French Polynesia but New Caledonia. My apologies.**

**Oh and at 27,000 words this is well and truly my longest story yet and we're not done with yet!  
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…

The cats were lounging in the warm sunshine in their hybrid forms, recovering from the nausea that had gripped them all on the short crossing from Lifou to the dolphin's island. Kwaksel had kept away most of his tribe mates to allow the cats to rest after their journey. A small gathering had been planned for that evening where the cats could introduce themselves to the aquatic tribe.

In the meantime Kwaksel entertained those of the group that were not dozing with information about the island and the activities that they might wish to do.

´We don't really have a lot of activities to be brutally honest" he said. "If I could convince you to come swimming it would be a different story but you didn't bring Jet with you, and I doubt anyone else would come in for a dip. For some reason it didn't click that we'd have to organise something for your group to do whilst you are here."

"Apart from swimming we have a small amount of wildlife on the island that can be hunted. You can go fishing; though we can provide anything in that side of things that will be needed. There's a lot of tree's to climb, we've set up a large open area for you to practice in, and we need you to teach us this spell that you use to become human."

"We'll need a mind reader to teach you that Kwak." Toby interjected.

"That's not an issue; my wife will look after that for you. You'll meet her later." Kwaksel assured the cats. "Apart from the general meeting we have for you there's unfortunately not much else. Actually, there's something." Kwaksel brightened at a thought, "at the top of the mountain there's a freshwater lake that's formed in the volcano crater. It's quite deep and at sunset it's very picturesque. It takes a couple of hours to hike up but the climb is pretty easy, even for those of us that prefer to swim than walk, and it's one of the spots our you couples go to be alone. If you're a little bit more adventurous there are some caves that you can explore as well, some can be a little unstable so you need to be careful."

Toby and Jericho thanked the Dolphin leader for his care and said that they'd come down to the beach if they needed anything before the gathering at sunset. Kwaksel bid them a farewell and walked back to the beach where he joined the other dolphins sporting in the waves.

Toby lay down next to his pregnant mate and began to doze in the warm sunshine, glad to finally be able to relax. Jericho did the same but soon got bored and went down to the beach. He shifted into his pollicle form and began to pad out into the waves, relishing the cool water soaking into his fur. An incoming wave lifted him off his paws and he began to swim out a little way to where he could see some of the dolphins at play.

A sleek grey form swept up beside him and morphed into the familiar shape of Kwaksel. "Jericho? I didn't think any of your group could swim?"

The husky just laughed as he paddled around. "I'm not a cat my friend. I grew up swimming in the lakes and rivers of my home. While it's not my favourite activity in the world I understand how refreshing it can be. Getting the salt out of my fur is going to be fun though."

"You'll be fine, but now that I know you and your tribemates swim, we can start to work on getting the Jellicles into the water too."

Jericho shook his head. "Yeah, good luck with that one. If you're very lucky you might get a couple of them in, but I know that you won't get Dom due to her pregnancy and Toby will not want to know."

"Dom is pregnant? How far along is she? How are the transformations affecting the kittens?" Kwaksel was surprised and a little shocked that they'd allowed a first time mother to come along on the journey. "Oh depths. We left her lying in the sun, I need to do something about that."

Kwaksel ducked his head back under the water and let out a series of high pitched squeals and burrs. Several dolphins broke from their play and made their way to shore transforming as they reached the beach and rushing into the trees to build a shelter for the cats. One of the dolphins broke away from the oncoming group and approached the pair. Transforming into a female dolphin hybrid as she reached them where they were being swept slowly back to the beach.

Kwaksel made the introductions. "Jericho. This is my wife Jamia. Jamia, this is the representative of the Pollicle tribe, Jericho."

"It's very nice to meet you Jericho" said Jamia who turned then to her mate. "What did you call me in for?"

"It's just come to my attention that one of the Jellicles is pregnant and I'd like you to come with me to congratulate the happy couple. That and it's time I introduced you to them." Kwak told her.

The three left the water and made their way through the trees to where the cats lay snoozing. Upon spotting Dominica, Jamia clipped Kwaksel over the back of the head. " How can you not know she's pregnant" she whispered and when he just shrugged, murmured "bloody men, their all the same no matter the species."

Most of the cats began to stir as the three walked up, Toby and Jerrie rising to their feet.

"Everyone. I'd like to introduce my mate, Jamia. Jamia this is Toby, his mate Dominica. Jerrie, Teaser and their daughter Jacaranda. Gemma, who's Toby's younger sister. Alonzo, Twitch, Nix, Christo and Kamira. Over here are the other two pollicles Olive and Jericho's sister in law, Skye." Kwaksel pointed everyone out.

After the greeting Jamia made her way over to sit with Dom and Teaser, while Toby asked Jericho what he'd been up to.

"I've been in for a swim. The water is really nice here, a little salty but much warmer than home." Jericho said, "You should come in with me."

Toby blanched at the thought, "I don't think so."

"Oh come on. Don't be a scaredy… well… cat. I know of lots of cats that swim."

"I'm not one of them thankyou very much" came the terse response, "but feel free to convince any of the others."

Kwaksel and Jericho just grinned and went to try to do just that. Toby made his way over to where his mate was sitting. Dropping beside her he placed an arm around her waist and a paw on her expanding belly. Dom was just explaining what they'd worked out about the transformation spell and the kittens.

"From everything we can determine, when I change forms to humanoid the kittens don't change with me. I don't think they would be able to cope with the constant changes" she was saying. "It also makes it a little easier while I'm in human form to carry them, as they don't show and are quite tiny."

"How far along are you?" asked the dolphin cow.

"Lets see. We've been on the boat about 8 days. 4 days to get to the ship from home and I was about 2 weeks when we left. So that's about 4 weeks into it. That leaves only 5 to go. I'll probably deliver while we're at the eagles' camp and we'll have to stay there for a while until the kittens are old enough to travel." Dom said.

"But why did you come if you knew you were pregnant?" asked Jamia.

"I didn't have a choice. Our departure was ordered by the Everlasting Cat, so go we went" explained the queen.

Jamia looked at her mate quizzically. "Their name for the Kraken." He said.

Jamia gasped and looked at the cats with a great deal of respect, "You've actually spoken with him?"

"Her to us, and yes, through our leader, Old Deuteronomy" said Dom.

Jamia sat back and thought about it for a moment before shrugging. "Well you're here now." She indicated Dom's belly and moved her hand slightly. "Do you mind?"

"Go ahead" Dom said and moved Toby's paw out of the way.

Jamia reached over and placed her slightly webbed hand on the red queens belly, then closed her eyes. "I can feel two minds, one male and one female. They are asleep at the moment."

Dom gripped Toby's paw and her eyes sparkled in excitement. They hadn't known the kittens sex until that instant.

"You really should come down to the water and I can do a thorough examination." Jamia said.

Dom pulled back a little. "Water? You mean like get in the water?"

"Yes, it's perfectly safe" assured the dolphin. "We get you in the water and I direct a sonic pulse at you to find unknown injuries and problems. It's quite exacting and harmless to everyone involved. It's the primary source of diagnoses that we use."

"I don't know. Are you sure it's safe?"

"Perfectly and you couldn't be in better hands than those of a dolphin and you'd normally have several hundred watching. Pregnancy is a source of great celebration to us and I wouldn't be surprised if most of the pod turns up if it gets around."

Dominica drew a deep breath. "Ok I'll do it. When?"

Toby a little startled asked "are you sure love?"

"I want to get checked out and Vic isn't here to do it."

"I can do it now if you wish." Jamia said.

"Ok lets go before I chicken out."

Toby helped his mate to her feet. "Lets go."

It was Dom's turn to be startled, she knew how much Toby hated water. "You don't have to come."

"Just try and stop me, I won't let you do this alone."

A few paces away Jericho and Kwaksel exchanged a grin. They'd get their wish and introduce some of the cats to the water after all.

…

A week later the cats had settled in well and following the lead of the pollicles and Toby and Dom, most of the cats had taken to having an afternoon and evening swim as a touch or relief from the heat. The shape changing spell had been passed through Jamia and many of the Pod had mastered the change.

Twitch and Jacaranda were the only cats not to take up the afternoon swim and used their free time to explore the mountain on the interior of the island. On this occasion they'd taken along Christo for company and had been gone a couple of hours. The cats were out floating in the waves discussing their upcoming departure with the pods leaders when the blind cat rushed out of the trees onto the beach and started calling for Toby and Jericho in a panic.

The group wasted no time in getting towed to shore and rushed up to the young tom to determine the problem. Christo focused on Toby. "There's been a cave in. Their trapped."

"Who? Who's trapped? Where's Jac?" cried Teaser.

"That's what I'm saying. Twitch and Jac are trapped in a cave in. I could hear them so they're alive but I couldn't get to them." Christo panted.

Teaser reached out for her mate, frightened beyond belief for their daughter. "Jerrie!"

"Shh, love. It'll be alright" he brought her into his chest, nuzzling her head fur.

Toby switched gears, "Jerrie. Stay here with Teaser and Dom. Kamira, Skye and Gem. Talk to Jamia and see what medical supplies you can get a hold of, plan on breaks, cuts, grazes and crush injuries, I also need lights of some kind if you can get them. Chris. I need you to lead Alonzo, Nix, Jericho, Olive and myself back to the cave."

Everyone stared at him in a state of shock, bemused by his abrupt shift into a leadership role.

"Get a move on people. Our friends could be dying while you stand her gawking!" He thundered.

The cats scattered, each to their various roles and Chris led the small rescue party back to the cave.

It was about halfway up the side of the small mountain and appeared to be an old lava tube that had been overgrown with local vegetation.

The face of the cave in wasn't very far into the cave and upon interrogation Chris said that he thought it extended about 15 metres deep. With the enhanced hearing that he'd been given as a kitten, Chris could hear the breathing and heartbeats of the two cats within the cave so they knew that their friends were still alive.

Alonzo approached the rockface and had begun to lever out a stone, when the ceiling above him gave an ominous creak and he was yanked clear by Jericho just before another metre or so of rock came down where he'd been standing. Toby stood there for a minute looking at the cave. "We need to shore it up with something. This is going to take days to get through."

Nix pulled him aside. "Let me try to get to them. There are enough cracks to get through in shadow form and I can bring them out one at a time."

"Are you sure you can do this? It's an awfully long way."

"I won't know until I try."

"Ok just give me a second." Toby turned, "Christo. I need you to go and get the others and guide them here. We're going to try something and I need those supplies as soon as you can. Tell them to forget the lights. Just water and medics."

"And Chris" the blind tom turned. "Run."

Chris ran…

Toby turned to Nix. "Do it."

With that the silver/grey cat entered the cave to get into the shadows required for her to change. In a blink of an eye she was a misty indistinct vaguely humanoid figure, and then she turned and sank into the cracks between the rocks.

The rescue party waited impatiently. They weren't sure if the medics would arrive first or Nix would emerge. Their unspoken questions were answered when a dark mass oozed out of the rocks and solidified into two figures. They stepped into the light and became Nix and Jacaranda. The unconscious calico kit's face was a mask of blood from along gash on her forehead and she was covered in a multitude of other cuts and scrapes. Alonzo immediately took her from Nix's paws and began checking her for unseen injuries.

Nix sat on a rock panting. "That was a lot harder than it looked. I've never carried that much mass before and I've still got an even bigger job to go."

"How much time do we have Nix? Can you take some time to rest?" Toby hated to leave his best friend in the dark but he couldn't risk losing both cats if Nix fell to exhaustion halfway through the rock.

"I can take a little bit of time. I know the way through now so it should be a quicker trip, but I can't wait too long. The air was starting to taste a little stale. I was able to speak to Twitch. He's conscious but was trapped at the hips. He said that he didn't think he's broken anything but he couldn't feel half his tail. I'll go get him in a minute. He said that Jac had woken briefly a while ago but drifted out again just before we got here." Nix stood and moved back towards the cave. "I'm feeling a little better. I'll go again."

Toby put his paw on here shoulder "good luck."

"Thanks. I'll need it" and with that Nix faded into the shadows once more.

While the shadowcat was gone the medics arrived with bandages and water, immediately setting to work on Jacaranda, discovering that apart from the head wound, she'd been remarkably lucky and none of her injuries were serious.

As they treated the calico kit a pair of shadows appeared at the rock face. In contrast to the slow extraction from before this time it was like a billowing rush of smoke out of the cracks in the rock that formed into one large and one small humanoid figures, which collapsed like the strings had been cut upon realising their normal appearance.

The medics rushed to the pair and after a quick look over Nix, deduced simply that she'd overtaxed her abilities and fainted. Twitch was a little more serious. His tail was bent about halfway down nearly back on itself. It was lucky that he was passed out or the pain would have unmanned him when they set it. He also had a dislocated hip which was easily remedied and his back was covered from top to bottom in gashes and bruises, it was like he'd never even tried to protect himself. He also had a huge bump on his forehead, right between the eyes.

After initial treatment the medics wanted to get the cats back to the beach where they could monitor their condition more closely. Purely to get the cats to the beach as quickly as possible, Toby transformed to his human form and picked the two injured cats up and began to stride through the woods rapidly.

A couple of hours later, Twitch had regained consciousness and was answering questions.

"It was my fault" he admitted. "We were playing like kittens and I stupidly ran into one of those cone things that hang from the roof. Next thing we knew it was dark and dusty and I could feel someone lying on the ground beside me. I pulled them out of the rocks and figured it was Jac. More of the roof came down and I hunched over her to stop the rocks from getting her. That's how I got trapped and why my back is a mess. I didn't know if Chris had gotten out and I honestly thought I'd killed him. I lay there trapped and tried to get Jac into a more comfortable position for her. She woke up and moved a bit setting off another cave in. I dragged her under me again and when it finished she was out again. I'd all but resigned myself to dying when I felt and then heard Nix. I told her to take Jac first and waited for her to get back. I couldn't let anything else happen to Jac and I wanted her safe." Twitch hung his head and the last comment was done at nearly a whisper.

Rumpleteaser came over from where her mate was holding their kitten. "Why not, Twitch?"

"Because I love her."

…

**Soft and fluffy end I know.**

**We're nearly done on the island. I wasn't sure what I was going to do here but had a few suggestions from people at work so I used them. Next chapter we head back to Australia.**

**Like it? Don't like it? Hit the review button just down there and let me know.**

**I'm very greedy for my reviews.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Journeys Pt 9 **

…

**Thanks once again for the kind reviews MsCloverJellicle and LMaTOG. I'm glad that you liked my portrayal of Nix.**

**Thanks also to Emily who posted her review as I was penning this chapter.**

**Like I said. It's nearly time to leave the island and we'll meet up with some old friends in this one.**

…

_Rumpleteaser came over from where her mate was holding their kitten. "Why not, Twitch?"_

"_Because I love her."_

…

"You what?" Teaser was shocked.

"I love her. I didn't realise until we were trapped, but I think I've always loved her. We've always been together in everything. When we were trapped in there I didn't care what happened to me as long as she would be ok." Twitch explained, "but she doesn't know. I don't think so anyway. And you can't tell her."

"Why not? You've certainly earned the right for happiness." Dom asked.

"I want her to find out by herself. She deserves better than for others to tell her."

"but…"

"No." Twitch fell back in pain and exhaustion.

"Very well, boy, but this isn't over yet." Teaser was considering the young tom in front of her, would he make a suitable mate for her daughter? Sure he was a bit hyperactive and slightly nuts but he was also kind and caring and would go well beyond the call of duty if it came to that, in the end a perfect blend of his parents Etcetera and Admentus. Only time would tell.

…

The incident in the cave forced the group to rescind their travel a bit and so it was 5 more days before they could make their way back to Lifou. Due to the delays the group missed their booked cruise on the Pacific Dawn and had to contact the P&O offices to try to get onto another ship.

They were in luck and managed to get cabins on the return leg of a trip on the same ship that brought them to the island a few weeks before. Upon boarding the cats were welcomed back by the friends they'd made on the way out, the ships artistic director Jo Lorum and the second officer Peter Shanks.

"We heard you guys had a little bit of trouble and missed your boat?" questioned Jo.

"Yes. Two of the group got caught in an accident caving" replied Toby. "Jac and Twitch got knocked around a little but they're ok."

"Glad to hear it. You'll be glad to know that we're expecting clear sailing back to Sydney and we won't be asking you to perform for us again. Unfortunately you won't get the suites again, they're all in use. We've got a few twin and four berth cabins but that's all we can offer I'm afraid. We'll also assist you in changing your travel plans from Brisbane to Sydney if you want."

The group was genuinely grateful. "Why are you doing this for us?" Alonzo asked. "I can't help but think that this isn't standard treatment for a guest."

The two ship mates led the group of cats through the ship to their cabins explaining as they walked. "It's not. We still remember, and we reminded the captain, what you did for us on the run out. We don't forget these things. That and we like you guys."

"Here are your cabins."

The group split into their cabins and arranged after a brief rest to meet up with Jo at the ships gift shop to purchase swimsuits, before the island visit unneeded, and for Twitch and Jac to visit the ships infirmary to have their wounds tended, before meeting the rest on the sun deck around the pool.

With the girls lounging around the pool and the toms clowning around in the water, Jo got to talking. "How long are you guys going to be in Sydney?"

Teaser answered. "A few days. We decided that we can afford to give Jac and Twitch more time to recover before heading off to Alice Springs. Why?"

"Well, as a thank you for what you did for me on the way out I was wondering if you guys would like to come to the carols with Peter and myself? We're having the Christmas break off ship this year and we're going to the domain."

"Peter and yourself? As in Peter Shanks and you as a couple?" Gemma asked.

"Yes. We've been living together for a couple of years now. It was Pete who got me this job. It was really strange how we met up actually. Pete and I both had a fainting fit about 8 years ago and ended up in the emergency room in neighbouring gurneys. We got to talking and everything went from there."

"What time of year did this happen?" Gemma was strangely intent on the answer.

"Umm. It was midyear during the Winter equinox down here. I remember it because it was a really clear full moon. It might sound silly but I could have sworn that I saw a flash of light before I fainted. Pete must have heard me tell someone else about it because he started saying the same thing."

Gemma sat there for a second murmering to herself. "8 years ago. That would work if they stayed for 2 years. It could be them."

She turned to Jo once more. "Sorry about the strange questions, but what were you doing before the ship. Both of you I mean."

"It's not strange. I taught music to primary school children and Pete worked on the Sydney Cityrail, while he was doing his uni."

Gemma lunged across and wrapped her arms around the startled woman. "It is you. I knew it."

"Gemma, behave yourself" spouted Teaser. "I am so very sorry Jo. I don't know what's gotten into her."

"It's, um, ok Tease. I do remember what it was like to be a young kitten once." Jo corrected herself, "teen I meant, Kitten? Where the hell did that come from?"

Gemma just smirked to herself.

"So will you come to the Domain with us?" Jo asked. "We can have a BBQ lunch at our place first and then head into town early to get a good position."

"We'd love too."

…

The rest of the cruise passed uneventfully, unless you count Alonzo winning a little over $3000 dollars at the bingo on the final night on board the ship. He immediately pledged the winnings to the RSPCA as the cats really didn't need any extra funds.

They disembarked at Darling Harbour and made their way to the hotel in Sydney, exchanging contact details with Jo and Pete before leaving the ship.

Gemma had been interrogated over her behaviour around the pool and had passed her suspicions onto Toby and Dom. Nothing Teaser would do could pry the reasons behind her actions from her.

They spent a few days sitting around in Sydney doing the usual tourist things, visiting Taronga Zoo and taking the Manly Ferry. Visiting the Sydney Opera House after a few phone calls were made, and being allowed to sing and dance upon the stage in the main concert hall which was in between performances. They'd actually contacted Jo and Pete and had them come in for this trip as neither person had ever been in the Opera House. The toms, Jac and Teaser all went on a bridge climb of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and though they didn't really get why, were quite impressed by the technical achievement of the bridge.

The day of the carols came and the group of cats made their way out to the western suburbs of Sydney to the house of Jo and Pete in Glenmore Park. The minibus dropped them off at the address they'd been given and the 14 cats and dogs went up and knocked on the front door. It opened after a moment to reveal Pete with a small boy wrapped around his lower leg.

He called out over his shoulder to the interior of the house. "Jo. Our guests are here. Can someone come and get Jacob for me please."

An older salt and pepper haired man came and peeled the small child off their friend and he welcomed the group into the house. "There's beer and coke in the fridge. The girls are in the kitchen and the Barbie's cranking out the back. I hope you guys like steak and snags."

As they went through the house they were introduced to a few other men and women and a couple of small children that were running around. "These are some of our neighbours and friends. Jo's sister is in the kitchen with her, the two kids are hers and we'll be taking them along tonight."

"Where's her husband?" Kamira asked.

Peters face fell. "He's over in Afghanistan. This is the first Christmas that he's not going to be here and Max and the kids miss him."

"We'll be glad to have them along. It's the first time we've all been away from our families for Christmas too."

Pete brightened. "But enough of that. Let's go and burn some meat."

The cats laughed and spread out amongst the house.

...

The afternoon wore on with a jovial air and everyone present was having a ball. The younger cats all enjoyed playing and spending time with Maxine's sons Liam and Jacob as it reminded them of the kittens back at home.

Around 4pm they group bundled into some taxi's and went to the train station to ride the rail into the city. It was standing room only for the hour long ride due to the large numbers heading in for the carols. Following the crowd through the Botanic Gardens to the open area called the Domain by the Sydneysiders, the enlarged group managed to secure a spot on the grass near the stage. The preliminary entertainment kept the kids and adults amused and then at about 7pm the show began.

The cats were entranced. This is what they believed song and dance should be about. The giving and receiving of joy and singing for the pure love of it. Halfway through the night Jo spotted a friend of hers near the stage and went over for a short chat with her. Upon returning she told the cats that she had a bit of a surprise for them. She wouldn't let on what it was though and just said that they'd have to wait and see, just make sure that they didn't ruin their singing voices though.

The night began to wrap up and the traditional ballads were being sung when Jo's friend came over to listen to the group singing. She nodded to herself and said to Jo "make sure they are ready in 10 minutes. We'll do it for Angels We Have Heard on High.

Jo turned to the curious group. "I hope you don't mind but I wanted to give you guys a bit of exposure and I've organised for you to sing up on the stage for one of the carols."

The cats were quite excited by the news and assured Jo and Bec, Jo's friend who was working as the organiser for the carols, that they did indeed know the carol.

The group were called up the the wings of the stage and split into two equal groups, one sent to either wing. One group would enter singing the first verse and chorus and the other group would enter on the second before they all would join together for the final verse and chorus.

As they got ready to go up, a voice over was heard announcing "a special treat all the way from England. We give you 'Angels We Have Heard on High' sung by The Jellicles."

The opening chords of the song rang out from the orchestra and quiet settled across the crowd at one of the traditional favourites.

Gemma led the first group out of the right wing.

Angels we have on heard high  
>Sweetly singing ore the plains<br>And the mountains in reply  
>Echoing their joyous strains<p>

Gloria in excelsis Deo  
>Gloria in excelsis Deo<p>

Kamira then led the other group out of the curtains on the left side of the stage.]

Come to Bethlehem and see  
>Christ whose birth the angels sing<br>Come adore on bended knee  
>Christ the Lord the newborn King<p>

Gloria in excelsis Deo  
>Gloria in excelsis Deo<p>

The two groups met in the middle and faced the crowd.

See him in a manger laid  
>Whom the choirs of angels praise<br>Mary, Joseph, lend your aid  
>While our hearts in love we raise<p>

Gloria in excelsis Deo  
>Gloria, in excelsis Deo<br>Gloria in excelsis Deo

The cats bowed to the cheering crowd and exited the stage to the congratulations of several of the big name stars that were gathering for the final carol medley. The wiggles insisted on the cats leading the rest of the stars out to perform the final songs.

After the final notes rang out the cats made a dignified exit and regrouped with their friends in the audience and joining the throng leaving the domain. Due to the late hour they offered to organise hotel rooms for their friends and wouldn't take no for an answer. Alonzo and Jericho picked up a tired child each and they all made their way back to the hotel by the harbour at which they were staying, organising rooms in short order before everyone settled in for the night. Just before they all separated Toby asked Jo and Pete if they could speak to them first thing in the morning.

…

After a good night's sleep the group met up with Jo and Pete at breakfast where Toby had a proposal for them. "You said to us while you were on the ship that you and Pete had the Christmas break off? We'd like you to come with us on our trip to Alice Springs, there's something we think you need to experience there."

Dom and Gemma just nodded while the rest of the group looked at the three cats like they'd lost their senses. Alonzo in particular was most perturbed. "Toby can I see you for a moment please?"

Toby just shrugged and went to a quiet corner with the older tom, "You wanted to say something Alonzo?"

"Yes" replied the tom. "Are you out of your freaking mind? You know what we have to do there and who we're going to meet. There's no way we can hide this if there are two humans there."

"I know that. Gemma approached me while we were on the boat with some suspicions and I was able to confirm them last night." Toby said quite calmly.

"What suspicions?"

"Jo and Pete were once Jellicles."

"What?" Alonzo yelled, heads turned towards the pair. He continued in a much quieter voice. "They were Jellicles? Who? How?"

"Well how I don't know, but as for who. Just think. Who do you think of when you look at raising kittens, and who do you think of when you picture a train?"

"You've got to be kidding me. You mean those two are…" Alonzo trailed off.

"Jenny and Skimble reborn. I had it confirmed with a feeling of certainty when I considered the idea after meeting them. It was the exact type of feeling I got when I was choosing our group." Toby informed the other cat.

"Next thing you know bloody Plato will resurface" said Alonzo.

"It would not surprise me. Something is coming and our generation of Jellicles seems to be right in the middle of it all. It only makes sense for the EC to give us back all the tools we need to deal with it." Toby said sagely.

"So when are you going to tell them?"

"Once we get to Alice Springs. They either accept it or they don't but that's the last chance they'll have before we head out to the Olgas for our meeting with the Eagles."

"I hope they can take it."

The two made their way back to the table for the couples decision.

Pete cleared his throat. "Are you sure you want us along?"

Toby nodded.

"Then I guess we accept. It's not often we get offered a free holiday."

"Good. We fly out tomorrow morning at 8am. We'll meet you at the airport."

Pete and Jo stood up. "We'll be there with bells on" and the two of them left to go home and pack.

Twitch looked at Jacaranda. "Bells on what?"

…

**Well that's it for this chapter.**

**I'm sorry if it's a little rushed but I've got to drive from one end of Australia to the other in 4 days time (only about 6000 km's) and I have a big goalpost in the story that I want to hit before then in one or two more chapters (probably just the one but I do like to babble on a bit.)**

**What's going to happen? Well Dom's now at about 8 weeks.**

**The cats now have 2 humans with them.**

**Things are going to get interesting but not in the way that you think.**

**Oh and the Carols in the Domain are a traditional thing in Australia. They are televised all over Australia and New Zealand and are generally a week or two before Christmas. The carol I chose to have the cats sing is in my own humble opinion one of the best there is.**

**You can hear the full thing on youtube here. **

**.com/watch?v=3-b5IC_Jsfc&feature=player_embedded#!**

**Please hit the review button and let me know your thoughts.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Journeys Pt 10**

…

**Big thanks once more to MsCloverJellicle and also to Em who's slowly catching up with the storyline. I hope you don't all hate me after this chapter.**

**Oh btw. I hammer the heat early in this chapter. It's a big thing down here and it governs a lot of how we live our lives.**

**I've just noticed something. I've gone with a slightly uncommon pairing for some reason that I don't know. It's too late to change it now but I actually meant it to be Jenny and Skimble. Not Jelly and Skimble. Oh well.**

…

The group now 16 strong made their way onto the 737 for the flight to Alice Springs. Sydney airport was packed as usual but the flight left on time. The four hour flight was uneventful and they soon touched down in the small city in the middle of Australia. They exited the aircraft and were immediately assailed by the stifling heat of the red centre. Walking across the concrete tarmac to the terminal was exhausting in itself after the balmy days on the island and the cool sea breezes that they experienced in Sydney. The air-conditioning in the terminal was a welcome relief from the heat.

They collected their bags from the carousel and went to the hire car booth to get the keys to the small bus that they'd hired. The original idea was to get a couple of four wheel drives and hire some local drivers to get them to their destination, however when they invited Pete and Jo from the ship, they discovered that Pete could drive a bus large enough for the group to travel together. They piled into the bus for the short trip into town to their hotel by the casino and baked during the drive as the bus Aircon was nowhere near up to the task over the quick hop.

They checked into the hotel and collapsed onto the cool beds. One by one the group changed out of their travel clothing and into light shorts and tank tops which were much more appropriate to the summer heat. Shortly after arriving Jo and Pete, looking disgustingly cool, went around knocking on the doors to invite the cats down to the pool for a few drinks. The cats levered themselves up and joined the two humans at the bar.

"Is it always this hot and humid here?" Alonzo asked the barman?

"No sir. You've arrived just at the end of the build-up and the start of the wet" answered the staff member.

"The build-up and the wet?"

"Yes sir. English I take it? Well the build-up is what we locals call it. It's basically spring down south. It's the time of year that runs from the colder winter months until the wet season begins in early December. We call it the build-up because it's when we get the searing heat and humidity that the environment seems to need prior to the wet season storms. It's not that uncommon for us to have weeks of +45 degree (113 for you northerners) days and 80 to 90 percent humidity. Everyone who's got any sense stays indoors in the air-conditioning or around a pool. Either way, you need to drink huge amounts of water and sometimes supplement it with salt tablets or hydration salts. It's very very easy to get into trouble with dehydration here without even knowing about it, and I shouldn't really say this but booze will just help it set in faster, so don't drink too much of it here."

Toby who'd come over to listen to the bartender thanked the man and made a mental note to find out more about the unseen dangers that they may face while in the area.

"Can you tell me where I can find out more information about the problems that we might face while we're here?" he asked.

"Just go into town tomorrow morning and visit the tourist bureau. They'll be able to give you all the information you need" the bartender said.

The two cats went back to join the rest of the party lounging by the pool when a mass of dark clouds swept in over the hills surrounding the town. Huge spots of rain began to fall and the cats all rushed to get undercover around the bar, looking with astonishment at the locals that didn't move but simply covered their eyes and drinks. The rain was torrential, however as quickly as it had appeared it swept away and if the cats thought the air before the rain was uncomfortable, the aftermath was unbearable as the heat began to evaporate the puddles left and make the air feel like a steam bath. The cats, deciding that retreat was the better part of valour, headed back to their rooms and the cool air within.

…

Later that evening Jo was walking down the hallway to the room in which Toby and Dom were residing. She was very surprised at how well she seemed to fit in with the disparate bunch. She was drawn to them even before the issues on board the ship that forced her to seek their help and would often come down to watch them as they practiced. It was clear that Toby was the leader of the party, however they all seemed to rely on the older couple for idea's and limits into what they would do. It was like Teaser and Jerrie were mentoring them in a way. Alonzo, seemed to her like the uncle that everyone wanted to have. Fun loving, but strict when it was needed. Twitch, they all had such interesting nicknames, and Jacaranda obviously had a thing going no matter how much he tried to hide it, were fun and hyperactive. The dark haired girl Nix seemed to hover in the shadows all the time and the rest just seemed really shy and kept to themselves. Christo fascinated her though. Toby told her that he had a rare eye disorder that made him extremely susceptible to light and he had to wear the dark glasses all the time, it kind of made him look like he was blind.

She stopped her musing over her friends as she came to the room Toby and Dom were sharing. Deciding that she'd have a little bit of fun, she burst into the room without knocking on the door first. "Hey guys it's time for din…" she started to yell and trailed off in shock.

Lying on the bed was a small, obviously pregnant, humanoid figure, scarcely larger than a housecat. She had red fur from her head to her feet and was interposed with black stripes and a dark mane. She reminded Jo of the costume that Dominica had worn on board the ship. The door swung shut behind her as the two stared at the other. Suddenly the door to the bathroom opened and Jo got another shock. Out of the bathroom came a human sized version of the figure on the bed drying itself off with a towel, however this one had white fur that was interposed with grey patches on its head, back and tail, "Oh god it's got a tail" Jo thought.

Then it spoke "Dom. You've gotta try out that bath. It's got these bubble things that do amazing things to your muscles" it spoke in Toby's voice. "What's wrong babe?"

The figure on the bed just pointed at Jo, who hadn't been noticed by the thing leaving the bathroom.

The white and grey one spun around and gaped at Jo who was still standing near the door. "Oh Bast!"

Then before Jo's eyes, a shimmering appeared around the figure, becoming brighter and brighter until she couldn't look anymore. When it died down there was the figure of Toby standing there with a towel wrapped around his waist looking very agitated.

Jo, overloaded by everything she was seeing, fainted to be caught by her friend.

…

She came to a few minutes later to Dom's voice and felt a really soft hand stroking her cheek. Jo opened her eyes to behold the red cat thing patting her face with its hand. Eye's wide with fright she scooted up the bed away from this cat thing. Backing into the headboard she looked towards the door only to spot Toby sitting in a chair in the hallway blocking the exit. "Calm down Jo. Please." He said.

Jo just looked between the two, eyes wide in shock.

Toby upon seeing the panic in her eyes looked at the clock and said to the cat thing. "It's been over an hour now. Can you change and we'll try to sort this out?"

The other occupant of the room just sighed and said "I don't know if it will help, but we can only try." She jumped down off the bed and the air began to shimmer around her like it did before. Suddenly there was a cat sitting on the bed however the wavering didn't change. However a few seconds later the 'Cat' began to grow until it was nearly to size of a small mountain lion. Then the air distortion became more intense like before and when it cleared was the very human and also very naked form of Dominica.

Jo's eyes rolled back in her head and she passed out again.

Once again she was only out for a short time. This time when she awoke she was greeted by the sight of a now clothed Dom and Toby sitting at the foot of the bed. Noticing her stir they both faced her with expression of trepidation.

"What. What are you?" Jo asked. She immediately berated herself for such a stupid question.

"Well we're cats, or that is we're a very special type of cat. You see the group name we have isn't just a name we came up with. It's what we are. We are Jellicle Cats and we normally appear as you saw Dom earlier." Toby said.

"Jellicle cats? Like in the poems?"

"Yes. That's exactly right. Mr Eliot actually wrote them after coming in contact with our tribe in London a long time ago."

"But, but. How and why are you here?" Jo asked.

"Sit on the bed there and we'll explain it all" said Dom, and proceeded to tell Jo about the cats, the Pollicles and what they were doing there. She finished it off with telling Jo about their suspicions about her and Peter and explained that the light they saw all those years ago was the souls of Skimble and Jelly being reborn.

Jo to her credit sat there and listened to everything the two 'cats' told her. It was a lot to take in however for some reason it all felt right to her. It explained the pull she had towards the group and the bond that she could feel. It didn't mean that she wasn't freaked out at all, just that she wasn't going to run screaming from the room.

She told the two cats that she really needed Peter to know about what was going on and asked if she could get him down to the room. Upon gaining the ascent of the cats she rang her room number and got Pete to join them.

When Pete knocked on the door, Toby got up and invited him in. They had him sitting on the bed and went through the story again, much to Pete's amusement. He thought they were pulling an elaborate prank and it wasn't until Toby actually went through a transformation before his eyes that he believed. However Pete was a lot more vocal and forceful with his reactions to the revelations laid before him. He was on the verge of storming out when a merged ethereal voice stopped him. He turned to look at the cats and took a step back in amazement. His former friends' eyes were glowing and a feeling of awe and serenity was being emitted. "Peter Shanks, once called Skimbleshanks and Jo Lorum, once called Jellylorum, be still and remember." With that Toby and Dom reached out and touched the foreheads of the two humans.

Visions flashed through the humans minds. Memories and lives that did not seem to be their own, yet they knew that they were. Their minds cleared and the cats took their paws down, the glow fading from the pairs eyes. "Now do you believe Peter?" asked the grey patched tom.

In answer the human began the now familiar shimmer, when it cleared, in Peter's place stood a tall ginger hybrid. It appeared that more than memories had been reawakened in the humans. Before a word could be said the door burst open and the human forms of Alonzo and Jericho entered the room, pulling up short as they took in the sight before them.

"Sk. Skimble?" Alonzo stuttered.

"Ay lad. Though you can still call me Peter" was the reply.

The situation was quickly explained to the two latecomers. Peter changed back into a human (apparently tails are not that comfortable in shorts) and Alonzo went to gather the rest of the group to go down for dinner.

…

The next day the group boarded their bus and started the 6 hour drive to their meeting point at the Olga's, a large rock formation about 2 hour's drive past the famous Uluru. Twitch had taken the shotgun seat and was regaling Peter with the story of his life wrapt with the chance to speak to his grandfather once more. Jo was catching up on the news with Jerrie and Teaser in the back, the rest of the group simply took the chance to lounge around in their natural forms. It was a strange situation that the group found itself in. Peter and Jo, while keeping all their own lives and personality had been given the memories and awareness of Skimble and Jelly. In the end they decided that they'd just have to trust in it and accept what happens.

They entered the national park and showed the permits to the indigenous park rangers, and were waved on through with the usual warnings about campsites, fires and littering before continuing onto the camp of the eagles another hour down the highway.

They drove down a surprisingly well maintained road to a small parking bay and disembarked for the 2 km hike to the campsite. As they got out of the bus a large eagle swooped down out of the clear sky and morphed into their friend Diamuldi.

"Welcome my friends to the Olga's" she said. "Now if you'll come with me we'll get you out of this heat and settled in."

She led the group down a walking trail to a hidden gully in the rocks which widened into a large clearing surrounded by caves. Diamuldi immediately pointed out the dwellings in which the cats would be occupying during their stay and ushered them out of the heat for which the group was extremely grateful.

As they entered the caves and shed their backpacks the group morphed back into their natural forms and took the drinks that they were offered. Toby was distracted by some agitation on Dom's part. It appeared the hike and heat had affected her a little more than the others and she collapsed into a chair panting.

"Are you ok love?" he asked.

"No not really. I think it's time." Dom replied.

"Time? Time for what?" asked the clueless tom.

In answer Dom's stomach just undulated in front of him.

"You mean…"

"Yes dear it's time for me to have the kittens. A little early but they've decided it's now." Dom said.

Toby immediately began that panic that seemed to affect all first time fathers until he was forcibly removed from the room by the other males under orders from Jo, who'd taken charge, the experiences of Jelly taking over. Outside the room the expectant father was attempting to re-enter the room and Peter eventually took the simple step of picking him up to move him and then sat in the doorway blocking any access. Toby just glared at the human and began to pace the cave.

It turned out to be a surprisingly easy delivery and a half hour later Toby was called into the inner room to meet his new kittens. He rushed into the den and was greeted by the sight of his mate Dom with two small wet bundles of fur cuddled up against her chest. She motioned him over "come and meet your kits, Toby."

He approached and peered down at the new kittens. The little tom had a red and grey patched coat and was mewing quietly, the little queen kit had a black, grey and golden mottled coat with red ear tips. Toby just sat there and took in the beautiful sight. Since discovering the sex of the kittens whilst on the island, the expectant parents had been discussing names. They'd settled on Belkanna for the queen and Tyrano for the tom.

As they sat there, the rest of the group exited quietly letting the new family settle. They headed outside into the cooling evening air and began to discuss the events of the day with the eagles. Diamuldi was quite chuffed that the kittens had been born at her camp and was set on adopting them into the eagle tribe, if their parents accepted of course. They spoke about the birth for a short period and then went on to regale the gathering eagles with their adventures so far. The revelation that Jo and Peter were actually human and not transformed animals caused quite a stir, until the circumstances were explained. They were then looked upon with a great deal of respect, to be touched by the great spirit, even through an avatar was an incredible blessing.

As the sun went down the group was escorted into a large cave in a secluded part of the camp. Inside they found a lively bar scene that could have nearly been transposed from inner city London, standing behind the bar serving drinks was another shock. It was a Jellicle cat most of them had never seen before, most but not all.

Alonzo cried out as he saw the barman, "Squelch? How the bloody hell are you mate?"

"Alonzo!" the barman vaulted the bar and enveloped the black and white tom in a huge bearhug.

"How did you get here?" the two toms said together.

"You first" laughed Alonzo.

"Ah mate. That's a long story. Suffice to say that after Mac was done in, some of his old henchcats tried to muscle in on the bar. I drove them off a couple of times but then someone firebombed the place. I took it as a sign and left town. I drifted around for a bit and was convinced by a passing queenfriend that it might be time to spread my wings. I had no idea where I was going so I found an old globe and spun it, shut my eyes and poked it with a finger. When I opened my eyes I saw that I'd landed on Darwin. I packed up my kit and stowed away on a ship. That was about 15 odd years ago. Since I got here I've done some ratting, spent some time as a feral and eventually made my way out here. I found the eagles by accident. I was out on the highway and was going for some roadkill when this bloody bird swooped down and stole it from under my paws. I ranted and raved at him as he took off, which must have shocked him because he dropped the dead possum and came back. You can imagine my surprise when he turned into a hybrid and asked who I was. We talked for a bit and he brought me back here. I set the bar up and have been here ever since."

Alonzo sat back to take in his old friends' tale, and then began to explain why they were there.

…

The group followed the routine that they'd followed at the island of the dolphins over the next week, they'd teach the spell and discuss matters in the morning and then sleep through the heat of the day before gathering at the billabong and bar in the evenings. Diamuldi had provided the services of the eagles mystics and the transformation spell had been transferred to them. The kittens had opened their eyes and were driving their parents to distraction. They refused to be confined in the cave and could find the tiniest crack to allow them to escape. Toby was still trying to work out how he would be able to get the kits back with them. They were too young to transform even into a hybrid shape yet and the new spell was well beyond their abilities. The worry and stress caused was keeping the two new parents awake at night so it was no surprise one morning to find that they'd both slept in.

Dom, upon waking up, found that Ty and Bel had both escaped the cave again and got up to go in search of the mischievous kittens. Toby was woken several moments later by the panicking queen.

"Toby! I can't find the kits! They got out again and I can't find them anywhere" Wailed Dom.

Toby leapt to his feet and headed out of the cave. He roused the rest of the cats and some of the eagles to help with the search. Skye and Jericho transformed into their husky forms and began to sniff around the entrance of the cave, soon picking up the scent of the kittens. Following the scent they led the group out of the camp and into the surrounding bush. The searchers followed the huskies through the boulders in a haphazard route; the two kittens were obviously playing tag and exploring their new environment. In amongst the rocks they came across a disturbing sight. There was obvious signs of a struggle and a strange canine scent in the air. The huskies passed this information on to the eagles who shared worried glances among each other.

Toby seeing the looks asked what was wrong.

"Recently we've had a pack of wild feral dogs move into the area. The park rangers have been cleaning them up and there's only a few left. They don't normally range this far from their den and we really didn't think they'd be any problems with them. We never considered that the kittens would get out" said one of them.

The group of searchers was even more concerned now. A couple of the eagles soared off to check out the wild dog's den while the rest of the group continued to follow the scent trail. As they went they discovered more and more disturbing signs including small tufts of kitten fur and a spot of blood every now and then. With each discovery the new parents became more and more upset. They followed the trail all the way back to a cave between two rocks several kilometres from the camp and paused on the outskirts to look for the residents. It wouldn't be a good idea to alert the dogs to their presence. There was movement at the cave entrance and the two eagles that left the group before exited into the sunlight. Upon seeing the search party coming down into the clearing the two eagles blanched and looked upset.

Seeing the expressions Alonzo held Toby and Dom back from entering the cave. "Let Jericho go first."

The husky made his way into the cave and surveyed the interior before turning to rush back out into the open air. He stood at the entrance leaning against the wall taking deep breaths, and looked up at the hopeful group. The look on his face said it all. Alonzo ducked into the cave and took in the bloodstains and fur and the pitiful little remnants of flesh and bone scattered in the den.

Toby and Dom cried out and made to enter the cave but were restrained by the Husky. "You don't want to go in there. Remember them as they were."

Dom looked at the husky and shook her head, tears streaming from her eyes. "No, no. They can't be. Toby? They can't be. Say it isn't true. They can't be gone. Please? They just can't be." Gemma pulled her sister in law into her arms abruptly supporting the collapsing queen.

Toby was of no help to his mate. The same thoughts and feeling were going through his own mind and he couldn't process what he was feeling. The helplessness and sorrow, intermixed with a growing anger and hatred at the animals that had done this. He looked at the tom who'd just left the den and asked, "Is there any hope at all?" Alonzo just shook his head.

Toby directed his attention to the queens and said in a frigid tone. "Take Dom back to the campsite and watch her." He turned then to the toms, Jericho and the eagles, who stepped back from the fury blazing in his eyes. "We hunt!"

…

**Well that's it for this chapter.**

**Not exactly what you all expected but I told you at the start that not everyone who went along would make it back.**

**Now for the bad news. It may take me a while to write the next chapter. I have to move house over the next couple of weeks and will be travelling from one side of Australia to the other. I have no idea if I will have net access and will probably be too tired to write anyway.**

**In the meantime I need reviews and suggestions as to where you think the story should go from here?**

**Have a merry Christmas everyone.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Journeys Pt 11. **

**...**

**Thanks to MsCloverJellicle and Faded Book (did you change your name?) I'm very glad that the incident with the kittens had the desired effect. I did give a clue early in the story that something bad was going to happen, but I don't think many people picked the particular twist.**

**I'm sorry that this update has taken so long and I hope that I haven't lost any readers. I'm in the middle of driving 6000km to my new home with my family so time and energy to write is at a bit of a premium at the moment, as you can imagine. I'm still chasing suggestions as to what you'd like to see the group get up to.**

**This should be a short chapter and any spelling mistakes are due to me having to use wordpad, because I forgot to put office onto the damn laptop.**

**I have edited this chapter and resubmitted it. The fight scene has been expanded and a few other tweaks have been made, including I hope the fixing of most of the spelling mistakes.**

**...**

_"We hunt!"_

...

Toby directed Jericho to start to quarter the clearing so source in what direction the pack of dogs went after slaughtering his kittens. He paced the clearing as Jericho looked for tracks or a scent trail. The eagles that had come along were asked to begin an aerial search for which they were happy to oblige. The kittens had been formally adopted into the eagle tribe upon their birth at the camp and the slaughter of them had incensed the birds.

Alonzo had stepped back into the den, steeling himself against the sights that he'd so briefly seen before, and began a search to see if he could ascertain the details of the day. As he searched the timeline and activities of the dogs that normally inhabited the den became clearer. There were 6 dogs total, 5 adults and one pup that seemed barely old enough to stand. There was no evidence of any females apart from some chewed bones in the rear of the den, and there was a surprising amount of signs that the pup was regularly abused physically. A small unkempt sleeping pad was found in the rear by the bones that was surrounded by bits of fur that did not belong to the kittens and had both fresh and old bloodstains about it.

Alonzo turned his attention to the pit where the slaughter took place. Before the final strokes it appeared that the kittens had been played with over the course of several hours. He also detected signs of a slight struggle near the den entrance where he also discovered not just two sets of prints but together with the kittens, was a slightly larger print. More and fresher bloodstains were also found there.

It all added up to a few surprising conclusions and Alonzo headed back outside to pass on his thoughts to Jericho and Toby. As he approached the furious tom, Jericho let out a yell from the edge of the campsite, "found it! They went this way, and only about an hour ago."

Toby immediately called the eagles in and sent them off to search in the direction of the scent. Jericho was sent to follow the trail and the rest of the group would follow a little behind so as not to muss the scent trail.

They followed the trail for hours. Slowly gaining on the dogs as they meandered across the bush in search of prey. Finally the group of tired cats, pollicles and eagles were just minutes behind the dogs. A circling eagle swooped in on the searchers and passed to Toby that the dogs were resting just a hundred metres ahead, around a small waterhole.

Toby gathered the group together to pass along his plan of attack. First he sent the eagles to cordon off the northern and western sides of the clearing and sent Alonzo, Jericho and Christo off to the east to do the same. He kept Jerrie and Twitch with himself on the approach from the south. He stressed that the group was only there to prevent the escape of any of the dogs and they were not to get involved in the fight. The grey and white Jellicle then changed into his cat form and began to shimmer. He grew to a size akin to the big cats that they'd all seen in the Zoo in Sydney a few weeks before and the groups moved out to their respective positions.

Alonzo and Jericho moved towards the east and approached quietly. As they neared their positions they began to hear voices. Getting down to their bellies and looking through the tufts of tough spiny grass that carpeted the area the two found the source of the sounds. It was the dogs, it appeared that they were not quite what they seemed and were actually a pack of pollicles. They must have been some of the random occurrences of pollicles being born to normal parents in a litter and not getting discovered in time by the pollicle psychics. There were 4 mediums size mutts and one big brindle dog laying around the water. A sixth dog, a small pup with a tan and black mottled coat and white markings around the chest and mouth was lying on its side panting. It's eyes were staring at the moisture and it began to edge closer to the pool. It had covered about half the distance when the big brindle leapt upon it and picking it up by the scruff of the neck through it into a thornbush.

"Nothing for you traitor!" the brindle roared. "This is the price you pay for trying to help my prey escape. I put a lot of effort into drawing those two kittens away from those damn eagles and you try to release them because you felt sorry for them? I should have killed you at the same time as your damn parents. You didn't even have the guts to partake in the feast, I think next time we'll just eat You!"

The small pup weakly rolled out of the thorns and lay on the ground once more. As it rolled over a long jagged tear, caked in flies, became visible on it's right side. The big brindle morphed into a hybrid form and kicked the young pup in it's injured side.

Alonzo added two and two together and worked out that this pup had attempted to help the kittens escape but had been caught during the attempt, resulting in the injury and also the punishment that was being handed out. He motioned Jericho closer and said, "We have to protect that pup. I don't know what Toby plans to do but we have to get it to safety."

Jericho who'd heard the exchange agreed and the two worked out a plan. One would hold the perimeter whilst the other would run down once the fight began and pull the pup out to safety. It was rough and simple but it was all they really had time for, and they just hoped that it would work.

They didn't have long to wait. A loud rumbling growl was heard, bringing the 5 dogs to their feet and facing in the direction from where the noise originated. A voice followed on the heels of the growl. "You killed my kittens!"

The big brindle pushed his way forward and replied, "what of it? They were there and we hate cats. Come on out kitty-cat and I'll send you to meet them. I can do with another snack."

The growl was heard again, "You killed my kittens and you dare mock me. I'll give you a snack!"

The huge white and tan cat leapt into the clearing and tore into the dogs. Pollicles or not they stood no chance. The leader however seemed to have a few tricks of his own. As Toby rounded on the hybrid dog, a darkness fell across the clearing and suddenly he wasn't there anymore. Toby scanned the area to no avail and a light pattering of footsteps was heard before a heavy blow was felt against Toby's front leg. The dog briefly became visible before disappearing once more. Toby lashed out blindly but hit nothing before the process repeated itself at one of his rear legs. The attacks continued again and again and though the damage being done was minor the wounds were starting to add up, and together with exhaustion, slow Toby down. It was at this point that the wounded pup got his revenge. He'd managed to drag himself to his feet and morph into a hybrid form, where he'd gathered a pile of the fine red bull dust that cakes the outback, in a broken container from the rubbish that was strewn around the waterhole. The pup lauched the dust into the air above the two combatants before collapsing back to the ground, changing back into a pup as he fell. The fine dust obscured the fight briefly as it fell before having the effect the pup was looking for. As the air cleared the falling dust caked every surface that it touched including the huge cat and the much smaller and now visible pollicle. Once he could no longer hide with invisibility, the dog scarcely lasted longer than his smaller packmates, before Toby disembowelled him with a swipe of his claws, before opening his jaws wide and biting off half the dogs face.

Alonzo had taken the opportunity during the final moments of the fight to edge down and drag the puppy up the rise where Jericho and Chris waited. He'd hoped to escape notice, but it was to no avail. Toby once he'd finished ripping the bodies of the dogs into their component parts turned and jumped up to the top of the rise. He rushed the, now unconscious, pup and swiped a huge paw and the dogs head, only to have it strike some kind of blue nimbus and bounce off. Toby tried again and again to no avail and finally turned the others before taking a step back in surprise.

Jericho's eyes were glowing in the manner indicating the presence of the Everlasting Cat. "You shall not harm this puppy my son. Nor shall you allow your mate or any of your tribes cause him to be harmed. You have handed the miscreants the punishment that they deserve, however I will not allow you to murder this innocent in your rage and grief."

Jericho raised a paw and suddenly there stood the natural form of Toby. There was none of the usually transitions, one second he was a 8 foot long cat and the next he was a 2 foot high hybrid again.

"Besides," the ethereal voice explained in a lighter tone. "I believe that Victoria would get mighty upset if you butchered her soulmate."

...

**Well there you go. Another chapter done. I like this version of it a little better.**

**As ****always**** please read and review.**

**The next chapter will be about Dom.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Journeys Pt 12.**

…

**Thanks once more to Faded Book and MsCloverJellicle, I'm clad that you guys are still enjoying this tale and reviewing.**

**Em. Thanks. I really didn't like the flow of the chapter before I redid it. I'm a lot happier now. Steeling yourself means to fortify or prepare for something that you know will be unpleasant but you have to do anyway. I'm glad you liked the reaction of Toby, I actually found it pretty easy to write from his side of things, but that's part of being a dad I suppose. This chapter is a little more of a challenge.**

**I will be concentrating on the queens point of view in the first part of this chapter.**

****In answer to a question that was put to me on twitter, and that some of you may have already realised. One of the major concepts that I use in this story arc is that of the love of the mates actually transcending death and species barriers. I like the idea that when the couples mate, it's more of a joining of their souls and it is permanent, after that it's up to luck or god or the great everlasting cat to get the two reborn souls back together again.****

**Oh and one more point. Just imagine that Jo and Pete have shrunk to the size of the Jellicles for this (I love this spell I can do all sorts of things with it). Otherwise they wouldn't fit into the caves.**

…

The following takes place at the same time as chapter 11.

…

Teaser and Jac took the distraught queen in their arms, supporting her from either side. None of the queens could believe the fickleness of fate, or the cruelty of the Everlasting Cat in taking kittens from their mother at such an early age.

Tears streaming from their eyes the queens listened to the orders given by Toby and began to gather together for the sad trek back to the eagles home. Toby and the other males searched the campsite for a short time and then after picking up a trail headed off into the bush. Twitch lingered behind just a little looking over at Jacaranda, obviously wanting to comfort the young queen, before sighing and running to catch up with the other toms.

Kamira steeled herself and entered the den. Finding a small box she began the distasteful task of gathering up what pitiful remains of the kittens that she could find. Nearly blinded by her tears she scoured the cave until she was sure she had everything. Covering the box over with a scrap of old cloth that she found on the bed at the rear of the den, she went through the exit into the bright sunlight. A moment after she left the den a low rumble was heard, and the ground began to tremble. The shaking became more and more violent until with a tortured shriek the cave the ginger queen had just left collapsed in a cloud of dust. Immediately the small earthquake ended and the assembled queens stared at each other and the cave in shock, it seemed the earth itself wished to remove the stain of hatred that had existed within that den.

Kamira went over to where Nix was standing off to the side.

"Nix?" she asked quietly. "Can you hide this until we get back to the camp. I don't think Dom needs to know what we have."

Nix blanched slightly, "I don't really want to know either Kam, but I agree. Dom can't cope at the moment and this would probably tip her over the edge." The shadow cat took the box from Kamira and ducked over to one of the rocks hiding in the darkness for a second, when she reappeared the box was gone and a dark indistinct blur was in it's place. Nix passed the box back to Kam with the direction to keep it out of direct sunlight as much as possible.

Meanwhile the larger group of ladies were clustered around Dom, not really saying anything but lending their unspoken support to the bereft mother. Teaser finally sighed and began to organise the group to return to the eagles camp. A queen was assigned to be at Dom's side the entire way and the rest were clustered around in a protective screen. Kamira by design was left at the rear so as to hide the remains a little more effectively. A couple of eagles transformed and flew ahead to inform the camp of the discovery and to bring back some water for the group. A much larger flock returned shortly after led by Diamuldi herself, carrying water and a litter for Dom.

Dom however ignored all attempts to get her into the stretcher, she ignored everything around her to be honest, a numbness had settled over her mind, buffering her from her emotions and it was all she could do to continue to put one paw in front of the other. Nothing the assembled cats could do would get her to interact and they began to get worried. Teaser had seen Electra go through a similar thing when she lost all three kittens in her first litter during birth, though to a lesser extent, and knew that it was best not to try to break her out of it until they'd reached the campsite. She just wished that they were able to get Dom to drink.

Several hours later the sad group approached the eagles campsite. Lining the gully leading to the entrance was the entire tribe. The sight was enough even to make Dom pause in her journey before recommencing her weary trudge between the waiting animals. As the group passed through, the eagles would first bow their heads in respect and then fall in behind the cats. They made their way to the central clearing and Dom suddenly sagged in Teasers arms as the trip finally took it's toll. The cats were led into a cool den where there were damp cloths and water waiting. Dom was taken to the medics to be checked over for any ill effects from the trek back to the camp accompanied by her sister in law , Gemma.

Nix dispelled the shadow effect on the box containing the kittens and Kamira approached Diamuldi to ask what arrangements could be made to inter the remains. A discussion developed regarding the beliefs and customs of both the eagles and Jellicles with funeral arrangements and a couple of idea's were hashed out. Consideration was given to getting Dom's input, however saner heads prevailed and the queens decided to wait until Toby and the toms returned to get his approval on anything they came up with. In the meantime the remains were taken to a secluded cave where they would be safe.

After a while Gemma exited the medical cave and rejoined the group to inform them of Dom's condition. "She's been given something to sleep. The medics are hoping that when she wakes up she'll start to grieve. We really need to have Toby here at that point, she just doesn't seem to even recognise our presence in the room. There's no psychologists in the tribe and the closest thing to a counsellor they have is actually Squelch."

"The bar cat?" asked Jacaranda.

Teaser answered her daughter. "That actually makes sense. Most bar cats double as sounding boards and amateur counsellors due to the nature of their jobs. They deal in getting their patrons to open up, and hear of most problems that occur."

"Well" answered Gemma. "He's being told the details about what she's going through now, and is going to see if he can get her to talk once she wakes up. Until then all we can do is wait and hope."

Another person entered the cave and approached the gathered cats. "How are the rest of you coping with all this?" asked Jo. "We're all concentrating on Dom but it's probably knocking you kids around a bit too. I just wish I could have gone with you but this weird illness is just getting to me a little bit." Jo had started getting sick at strange times of the day. If it was only in the morning the consensus would have been that she was pregnant, but she was sick at random intervals. Sometimes early in the morning, sometimes at night or during the day and sometimes it would wake her in the middle of the night and she'd have to bolt for the amenities and puke. It had been happening for only a couple of days now but was showing no signs of abating and Pete had started to worry. He'd convinced her to see a doctor on the way back through Alice Springs, but now they all had no idea when that would be.

All the queens assured Jo that they were fine, but anxious about the state of their friend, which was completely understandable. The human decided that she'd simply wait and offer her support to her friends when needed.

…

It was a little after sunset when a weary band of cats and dogs were spotted on the approaches to the camp. As they walked through the gully the word was passed from the sentries that the hunting party had returned and the eagles and queens came out into the central clearing to await their arrival. Toby, still covered in gore from the fight, led them in. He immediately approached Teaser asking for Dom.

"She's in the medical cave asleep, but you can't go in there just yet." Teaser said.

Toby just looked through her. "Try and stop me."

Cowered by the menace she saw in his eyes the calico queen stepped aside and Toby made his way to the cave in question. "At least clean up before she sees you!" Teaser called after him. She approached her weary mate and led him and the others into caves to clean up and hear about what had happened on the hunt.

…

"So that's what happened." Jerrie finished relating the details of what the toms had been through.

Skye turned to Jericho. "Where's this pup? I didn't see him with you when you walked in."

"No I broke off as we came through and gave him to one of the eagles to get care. We decided that it'd be best if he wasn't looked after in the same area as Dom." Jericho said.

"Hmm. Probably a good idea. No telling how Dom would react." Jac, who'd curled up against a surprised Twitch, said. "Though anything would probably be better than the state she's in now."

"What's this?" asked Jerrie.

"Well she's just not ther…" Jac started to explain before being interrupted by a commotion at the entrance to the cave.

"That stupid, idiotic, moronic, dickhead. Of all the stupid bloody things to do that fool rushes in there covered in blood and crap. I'd just started to get her to come out of the shell when he bursts in and she goes right back under." Squelch said angrily as he stomped up to the group.

"Jerrie. Twitch. Can you please go over to the medical cave and take that idiot friend of yours off to be cleaned up?" Squelch asked the toms, "because if you don't I'm going to go all bouncer on his ass and toss him out like a two dollar drunk."

Jerrie levered himself to his feet and called over to Twitch, who was sniggering at the two dollar drunk comment, "Come on lurch. Let's go get your friend and throw him in the dam."

Pete laughed, glad of the levity and volunteered to come along as well.

The four left the cave and shortly after a loud yowling and swearing was heard followed closely by a loud splash. Soon, Pete, Jerrie and Twitch led a dripping wet but now clean Toby back into the cave. Pete was telling Toby in no uncertain terms that he wasn't to re-enter the medical cave until he had the approval of the medics or Squelch. The telltale Scottish brogue indicated that Skimbles personality had come to the fore to try to get Toby to obey orders.

The tom was sat down within the group and they discussed various light topics to change the mood of the cave. Unfortunately most of the conversations would trail off into an uncomfortable silence around the morose tom, until Gemma finally decided to broach the subject of the funeral and memorial for the kittens. The subject brought Toby out of his funk and he listened to the idea's that were being presented. He finally started making a couple of requests of his own and the details were finalised. It would be a simple service, in two days, followed by a ceremony by the eagles and the kittens would be interred.

"I'd like to see them." Toby asked in a husky voice.

"Of course." Jo said rising.

Jo led Toby to a secluded cave where the kittens remains had been placed into a small wooden casket and were surrounded by candles. "The eagles supplied this as a mark of respect" she explained.

Toby said nothing but just placed a paw on the lid and bowed his head. They stood there for what seemed like an eternity in silence before Tobies shoulders began to heave in silent sobs. Jo reached out a hand hesitatingly.

"Why Jelly?" asked the distraught father. "Why did the Everlasting Cat take them away? They were innocents. They never deserved this. Was it something that I did? Is this my punishment? If it is then why didn't he take me instead?"

"I don't know son." Jelly/Jo said. "When Skimble was taken to be reborn it was all I could do to carry on, but with the support of my friends and family I found that I could. I know it doesn't help but you need to have faith in god's plan. He took your kittens for a reason and they are in his loving arms right now."

Toby didn't respond and Jo decided not to say anything more, but to just be there for her friend as he mourned.

…

The day was a cloudy overcast day but an extremely hot one, typical of a central Australian summer. In the mid afternoon the cats and eagles all gathered at one end of the camp at a stone plinth, near a rock wall that looked like it had been pockmarked.

Dom had been escorted out of the medical cave and was looking extremely worse for wear. The queens had been in to try to groom her but her fur was still hanging limp and lifeless, she stood in a daze in the front row but just off to the side. A murmur swept through the crowd and Toby entered the far end of the clearing carrying a small rosewood casket about the size of a lunchbox. It was adorned with orchids and flowers and had been polished until it glowed in the subdued light.

Tears streaming down his face the tom carried his kittens to the front of the gathering and placed the casket at the front of the plinth.

He rested his paw on the casket and then turned to stand with his mate. Pete was the first to get up to make a speech and was quickly followed by Jerrie, Jo, Teaser, Skye and Jericho. As the speeches ended Diamuldi came forward to make a benediction to end the service when a small timid voice spoke up from the crowd. "Can I say something?"

Diamuldi frowned but nodded leaving the platform.

A small furred figure, swathed completely in bandages limped his way to the platform. He stood at the front and turned to address the crowd.

Before he could begin however a loud hiss came from the side. Heads turned to see Dom exhibiting more life than she had in the past three days. Her fur was standing on end and she was hissing and spitting at the pollicle puppy on the platform. Toby had wrapper his arms around his mate and was trying to restrain her, whispering urgently to her, but fighting a losing battle. He turned beseeching eyes to the other queens who leapt to his aid to restrain his mate. They finally got the furious queen subdued and the puppy began to speak.

"I didn't know your kittens for long. When I met them they were being, um, played with by Pedro. I know what that was like. I've been the subject of his little games for as long as I remember, ever since he killed my parents. I tried to ignore what was happening but I couldn't. I guess I'd had enough so while Pedro and his crew were sleeping I tried to get them out of the cave. They were nice kits and I thought that I'd be able to live with them. I should have known better. It was one of Pedro's sick little games. I got them out of the pen and we'd nearly reached the entrance when he jumped on us. He always seemed to be half awake even if you were sure he was dead to the world. He threw them back into the pen and then beat me up. I honestly thought I was dead but he turned back to the kittens and I blacked out. When I came to I was being dragged through the scrub. I'm sorry that I couldn't save your kittens, but I'm not sorry that you came along, because otherwise I'd be dead and not Pedro and his cronies. You did the world a great favour when you did that."

As the pup spoke a strange thing happened. A cool breeze blew through and a circle formed in the clouds. The sun pierced through and enveloped the pup in light. At the end the entire crowd stood there stunned, all except for Dom, who'd taken the opportunity to shrug off the queens holding her back, and stalked towards the pup. She reached him before anyone could reacts and grabbed him by the throat.

"You tried to save my kittens?"

The pup tried to swallow and croaked. "Yes. I tried."

Dom looked him up and down, taking in the many bandages and the spreading bloodstain from the large wound on his side. "How old are you child? What is your name?" she asked releasing her hold on his throat and resting a paw on her shoulder.

"Six weeks and I don't know. My mother died before she could tell me."

Dom stood there for a moment with her eyes shut, her lips moved but no emerged. It was like she was having a conversation with someone else.

She opened her eyes and the crowd took a step back. Once more they were glowing to show the presence of the everlasting cat. Toby joined her upon the platform, standing on the other side of the pup, he turned to the crowd and exposed his own glowing orbs. Together they said to the assembly "We take responsibility for this pup and his name is Aristotle."

The two cats turned from the assemblage and took the casket from either side. Together they approached the wall and slowly slid the casket into an open hole. An old eagle stepped up and placed a stone capstone over the hole and cemented the cover into place. Returning to the crowd the cats paused at the plinth and looked at the two new names inscribed there, "Tyrano and Belkana. Rest well kits and we'll see you again" whispered Dom.

…

**Well that's it for another chapter.**

**Please review. I really need them to keep myself motivated to write. I know I use the Everlasting Cat a lot in the story but I like the idea of a deity that takes an active role in her charges lives**


	13. Chapter 13

**Journeys Pt 13**

…

**Thanks once again Em and MsCloverJellicle for the reviews.**

**Some ppl may be wondering why a pup that is only 6 weeks old acts so mature. The way I see it an abusive upbringing can have a multitude of effects. Sometimes it forces maturity on children and other times it can make them abusive or reclusive or just never leave that childlike state. I'm not an expert in this field, not even an ungifted amateur but this is the way I saw a friends son react when he was rescued from his mother and step dad, so that is what I'm drawing upon.**

…

The assembly dispersed, talking animatedly about the occurrences of the afternoon. Toby, Dom and their new charge remained at the gravesite, talking quietly.

"I don't exactly understand what has happened here today, Aristotle, but we will have to deal with it." Toby said. "From today you are our responsibility and I hope you come to understand what that means."

"Ease up Toby." Dom admonished the tom. "He's just a pup."

Toby watched, surprised, as Dom wrapped her arms around Aristotle protectively. The latest experience with the Everlasting Cat did more than convince her to change her mind about blaming the pup for the death of their kittens. Toby however was a little more pig headed than his mate and still looked at the pup with an air of scepticism.

"This is a bit of a change isn't it Dom?" he said, bristling just a little at the attack from his mate. "Just a half hour ago you were ready to rip him to pieces and now you can't seem to let him go. Or are you forgetting what his friends did to our family?"

"How dare you." Dom retorted in a frigid voice, "You have no idea what I went through with our kittens. I carried them for NINE WEEKS and what did you do? You just did the easy part. They were everything to me but I had to let them go. Yes some pollicles took them away but it wasn't Aristotles fault. He did everything that he could to save our kittens and I won't have you attacking him over it. He nearly died trying to save them, or don't you remember?"

"Remember? I was the one that found the bastards! I was the one who punished them for what they did. How the hell do you think I could ever forget." Toby thundered back.

Aristotle, forgotten by the two arguing cats slunk off quietly. Embarrassed about causing the two to fight.

He wandered off through the camp avoiding the inhabitants, automatically keeping himself to the shadows. The lessons his short and violent life had taught him about escaping notice coming to the fore. He made his way through and was sitting by the waterhole, listening to the cicada's and watching the sun go down, when a figure approached him from behind.

"Tough day, huh kid?" said Squelch, plonking himself down beside the young pup.

"Wha?" Aristotle shied away from the large cat.

Squelch laughed. "Easy lad. I don't mean any harm. Where are Toby and Dom?"

"I. I don't know. They were fighting and I ran away."

"Well that's parents for you. They're either kissing or fighting and usually over the kids. Don't take it personally they've gone through a really tough experience this week, and you're right in the middle of it." Squelch reassured the puppy. "Now I'd better get you back, before you start to freak Dom out. She really doesn't need anymore trouble after the last few days."

The big barcat hauled himself to his feet and reached a paw down to the puppy. "Come on sunshine. Lets go find your step mum."

Aristotle ignored the paw and stood himself up. He followed the jovial cat through the camp to the caves occupied by the Jellicle group. All conversations stopped as he entered the cave, and the young pollicle froze at the entranceway, looking like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. An uncomfortable silence ensued, eventually broken by Jericho and Skye who, together, ushered the pup into the group and made him feel welcome. The conversations recommenced, though at a much more subdued volume.

"So where are Toby and Dominica?" asked Skye quietly.

"I don't know. They were arguing and I snuck away. That big cat over there found me and brought me here." Aristotle indicated towards Squelch, who was swapping tall tales with Alonzo.

At the word arguing the two pollicles shared a worried glance. Toby and Dom fighting was nearly unheard of, it was an indicator of the stress the couples relationship was under at the moment. Everyone just hoped that it wouldn't be too much.

"Did they notice you leave?"

"I don't think so. They were going at it pretty hard."

Jericho grimaced, then motioned Gemma over. "Gem. Can you go find your brother and sister in law and let them know that Aristotle is with us. Apparently they've learnt the first skills of parenthood. How to forget about the kids when you're having a barney."

The black queen scowled a little and left the cave muttering under her breath at the stupidity of certain relatives. Not before reaching down and ruffling the young pup's head fur though, apparently the impression that Aristotle made with his announcement at the funeral and the Everlasting Cats approval of him, had gone a long way towards his acceptance by the rest of the group. They seemed to still regard Aristotle with a certain amount of trepidation but there was no hostility or blame directed towards him.

The two pollicles introduced the pup to the rest of the group.

"Aristotle huh?" asked Twitch. "That's a bit of a mouthful. Hows about we call you Tots or Aris for short?"

"Aris please. Tots is just uggh!" interjected Jac, who for some reason was still curling up with the large tomcat.

Aristotle mouthed the name to himself a few times before shrugging and deciding that it was as good a nickname as any, and a lot better than some of the things he'd been called over his short life.

"Aris it is then."

The group had been sitting there talking to Aris and finding out what his life up until now had been like for a little over an hour. The youngster was quite open about his experiences and would readily relate them. When his crimson furred foster mother stalked into the cave.

"Aristotle! There you are. I'm so very sorry we got caught up in each other and ignored you, honey." Dom exclaimed as she entered the cave.

"It's ok, Ma'am" said Aris, punctuating his statement with a big yawn. "I've been getting to know everybody, and Mr Twitch gave me a new name. Aris."

Twitch blanched at the honorific. "Just Twitch there Aris. Mr is my dad not me."

"Well dear. It's been a pretty big day and I think it's time for us to change your dressings and get you off to bed. Say goodnight to everyone." Dom said with a small smile, quite glad to see that the group was accepting her charge.

Aris looked around the room and said goodnight to everyone until he reached Jericho and Skye. For these two he leapt over and rubbed himself around their legs.

"Goodnight and thankyou for looking after me." he said.

"That's ok there champ. Now off you go with your mom." Jericho ushered the tiring puppy off with Dom into the corridors that led off to rooms deeper in the caves.

Some of the group took the exit of Aris and Dom as a sign and left to seek their own beds, leaving just Pete, Jerrie and Twitch lounging around in the main cave. The sound of someone entering the cave made them all look towards the entrance as Toby entered, followed closely by his sister Gemma.

"I still think you're both a pair of idiots. You know that?" admonished Gem.

"Well, tell Dom that. All I wanted to do was to explain a few things to the dog and she blew up at me?" Toby replied.

"Just listen to yourself?" Gemma hissed. "The Dog! The Dog has a name and you're supposed to be looking after him. Grow up!" Then Gem did something completely out of left field and slapped her brother across the face, spinning him into the wall, and stalking down towards the bedrooms.

The three guys just sat there and took all this in, before Pete rose to his feet and helped Toby up.

"Are you alright there laddie?" Pete asked.

Toby felt around his jaw, his sister really knew how to swing a punch. "I think so."

Pete directed Toby to a seat in front of his confidants within the group. "Good. Now I think you should sit down and let us know what the hell that was all about."

"I'm not exactly sure. Dom and I got into a fight after everyone left. I just wanted to explain to the puppy what was going to happen and she blew up at me, then we noticed that he wasn't with us and Dom stormed off. Next thing I know I have Gemma screaming at me and trying to take my head off."

"Woah there a sec. Start back at the beginning. What exactly did you say?" Jerrie interjected.

"Exactly? Let me think." Toby replied, "I think I said 'I don't exactly understand what has happened here today, Aristotle, but we will have to deal with it' and then Dom said…"

…

"…and that finished with Gem loosening my teeth, which you just saw." Toby finished.

"Well there my boy. I think I understand the problem now." Pete said amiably, and then exploded, "and if it was me instead of your sister you'd probably be sucking your meals through a straw for the next couple of weeks. Are you deranged? Did you get hit in the head or something during that set-to in the bush? You've just lost your kits. Your mate has just lost her kits and the Everlasting Cat has given you both something to care for, not replace mind you, and love and the first thing YOU do is to attack it? I know you're stressed but that's no excuse for stupidity, can't you see that Dom has adopted Aris into her heart?"

The human had lurched up out of his chair at the start of his outburst, and was looming over the dazed feline, and by the end of it was visibly shaking with the effort of not lashing out at his friend. Jerrie and Twitch leapt to restrain him, but were simply shrugged off as Pete turned and stormed out.

Toby still stunned looked at the other two Jellicles. Twitch just shook his head and left, while Jerrie said quietly, "I think you've screwed this up royally, Toby. Your parents and grandparents would be disappointed" before following the large teen, leaving the grey patched tomcat sitting on the couch.

Toby just stared at the dark corridor that had taken all his friends away from him. "But I didn't do anything wrong" he whispered to himself. "Did I?"

…

Early the next morning a playful puppy and his red furred foster mother entered the caves lounge before halting suddenly. Sitting is much the same position as the night before was a haggard and tired looking Toby. The tom looked up and wearily pulled himself to his feet.

Approaching the two he opened his mouth to say something, but only a broken croak came out. He coughed and began again. "Dom, Ari…"

"Save it Toby!" interrupted Dominica. "If you're just going to insult us again you can just save it." She pulled the puppy protectively behind her legs.

"Dom, would you just shut up for a second." said Toby, hanging his head in shame. "I just wanted to apologise for what I said yesterday. I've lost all my friends, my family and my love over some stupid things that I said yesterday and I'm sorry. I've been sitting here all night thinking about what I did, and said, and I can see that it was wrong. We've been given a second chance to do something good in the world here, and I tried to throw it all away out of grief and jealousy. I couldn't let go of Ty and Bel. I couldn't see why they were taken and Aristotle wasn't, and I hated myself for it. I hated myself for not being there for my children when they needed me, for not being there to protect them like I should have. I'm sorry that I took it out on you and Aristotle and I can only hope that one day you'll forgive me for it."

Dom just stood there watching as Toby poured his heart out. In the end it was Aris who broke her from her study with a not so subtle nudge in the back of her legs. She reached over and took Toby's paws in her own and bent down to try to look up into his eyes. "I forgive you, idiot. I don't forget what you said but I understand why you did. I forget that you didn't have a presence explaining things to you like I did. But you'd better not ever 'Dom extended her claws into Toby's paws for a bit of emphasis here' think that I didn't care about our kittens like that ever again or you'll lose the capacity to ever have more."

Toby stared as his mate in relief. He hadn't lost her, and pulled her into his arms. After a moment he released her and bent down to talk to Aristotle who had a doggie grin spreading across his face at the reconciliation. "Aristotle. My name is Toby and I'm going to be your new foster dad. I know you tried to do your best for your brother and sister and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you tried to do. I'm sorry about what I said yesterday, and I hope I can be as good a father as you deserve."

Toby held out his arms again and the young pup leapt into his arms, and began licking his laughing face in joy and excitement. Dom slung an arm around her mates waist and tried to rest her head on his shoulder, inadvertently coming into range of Aris's rather mobile tongue and getting an impromptu bath herself.

The rest of the group, roused by the laughter, filed out of the corridor, smiling at the fun the small broken family was having. Jerrie, Twitch, Gemma and Pete all very relieved that they'd seemed to work it all out."

"So is everyone packed yet?" Diamuldi called as she entered the cave. Blank looks abounded about the party. "You guys are due to head out today. Remember?"

Realisation dawned on faces and there was a flurry for the corridor, leaving the Eagle matriarch standing in the room alone. "I guess not." she said with a small laugh.

…

It was a very introspective group that left the gully for the short hike back to the bus. A lot of things had happened while they were at the camp. They'd gained a new member of their group. They'd caught up with old friends and made many new ones. They'd welcomed two new lives into the world, and then had to say goodbye to them.

They all boarded the bus and said farewell to Squelch who, despite being tempted by the offer to accompany them back to England, had elected to stay where he was. He'd grown to enjoy the outback and the community that he'd become a part of.

The drive back to Alice Springs was a quiet one. Like on the way out, most of the group took the opportunity to lounge in their natural forms until they got closer to civilisation. Toby took this time to try to teach Aris the transformation spell, to no avail.

"He's just too young, he's only just gotten to being able to take his hybrid form for short periods and he's not ready for the rest of the spell yet." Toby said to Jo in despair. "I don't know how we're going to get him with us on the plane."

Jo thought for a moment. "Do you want him in the cabin or will it be good enough if he's just on the plane with you?"

"Well I'd like him with us in the seats but I suppose as long as he's on the plane."

"Ok then. We can get him aboard as live cargo. It's how most people transport their pets by air. Will that do?"

"If we must. I'll ask Aris and Dom."

The two in question weren't happy about the situation but it appeared that there was no other choice. As soon as they got to town they'd organise the travel.

Once the group got back into town and checked back into their hotel to await their flight the next day, Jerrie turned on the mobile phone that they had for emergency contact with England to check for messages, while Pete took Jo off for her long overdue doctors appointment.

The phone immediately came up with two messages.

The first read "Please call as soon as you can!" and was dated about two weeks previously, just after they'd left Alice Springs.

The second one was dated a couple of days after "Don't worry. Just contact us when you get back."

Jerrie showed the messages to Teaser and Toby before working out the time difference. "It's about 4am at home at the moment. The message is nearly two weeks old so a couple of hours won't hurt. I'll ring them when someone will be up."

Toby and Teaser agreed and they all headed down to the pool to wait for Pete and Jo to return.

…

An hour later the couple walked into the bar and approached the group with a troubled look on their faces. The cats seeing this became quite concerned and worst case scenario's started to flip through the cats minds.

"Well we got in to see a doctor and explained what Jo had been going through, so he ran a few tests. We got a result pretty quickly to one of them and we couldn't believe it so we had him run it again for another positive result. He did a couple of more scans after that and explained a few things to us which is what's taken all the time."

Jo took over the explanation from Pete who got up and went over to the bar and began ringing a bell at one end, attracting the attention of all the locals. "You see. I'm pregnant."

The group prepared for the worst sat there for a second as the news sunk in, before celebrating and crowding around the now radiant mother to be. Pete stopped ringing the bell, which incidentaly signals that the bell ringer is shouting everyone at the bar a drink, and rejoined the group.

"Jo's at six weeks apparently, and the reason she's been sick all day is that we're going to have twins. Something about a multiple birth in humans causing a lot more strain on the mother which results in the morning sickness lasting all day." he relayed.

The celebrations went on for a while, before Jerrie remembered the messages from the Junkyard and went off to a quiet corner to make the phone call. After what seemed a pretty long wait as the phone at the other end rang, it was picked up and the familiar voice of Munkunstrap was heard.

Toby was looking over at Jerrie on the phone when he saw a strange sight. The ever-present grin on Jerries face faltered and faded away, replaced by a look of profound shock. He went to approach the tom but was halted by an upheld paw. Jerrie listened on the phone for a few moments more before looking over at Toby and motioning for him to get Christo. The mystified Tom complied and directed the blind cat over to where Jerrie was still listening on the phone.

Christo approached where Jerrie was standing and blanched as he got close. His superior hearing had been muted by the celebrations but as he left the centre of the noise he was able to make out the news that Jerrie was receiving. With a trembling hand, he reached out and took the phone from Jerrie and put it to his ear for a moment, before bringing it down and turning it off. Shaking his head over and over, Chris buried his face in Jerries chest and cried. The anguished sobs breaking through the celebration at the bar and bringing the group to stunned silence. Jerrie led the young man back to the group where he released Jerrie and clung to Gemma.

"I've just received so terrible news from home." Jerrie began. "There's been an accident."

He swept a tearful gaze around the group and clutched Teaser's hand in his own.

"Victoria is dead."

…

**Well that's it for another chapter.**

**Please review. I enjoy it so very much when people give them to me.**

**The bell in the bar is actually a tradition in a lot of the older Australian pubs. If you ring the bell you are basically saying that you are celebrating something, or you are really drunk, and willing to pay for a drink for everyone in the bar when the bell is rung**


	14. Chapter 14

**Journeys Pt 14.**

**I've had a couple of responses regarding the cliffhanger in the last chapter. Believe me when I say that it was done for a reason and there are some clues as to why within the story. The cats are pretty resilient though. They mourn and move on as reincarnation plays a big part in their belief system.**

**I'd like to thank The Passionate Admiral for his review. I've read all your stories and I am a big fan of yours so it's great that you are enjoying something that I've written. **

**MsCloverJellicle, I'm sorry it's taken so long but here you go.**

**Faded Book, Don't cry. To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.**

**I'm trying something just a little different with the start of this chapter and taking it into the first person of one of our support characters.**

**Now on with the story.**

…

Mouths dropped open around our group, we didn't know how to respond to the news that Jerrie had just revealed to us. I mean how were we supposed to react? I drew Jac into my arms as the tears began. "How did this happen Twitch?" she murmured. "Haven't we gone through enough with the kittens and now this?"

I didn't know what to say or how to say it. For once in my life I was completely unable to bring myself to lighten the mood. I pride myself on my reputation as an airhead and my ability to get everyone to laugh and smile, even if it is in resigned acceptance of my actions.

It comes from my mother, she told me when I was young and was a little upset when Jet called me a clown, "The ability to dance and sing can bring joy to everyone for a brief time, but being able to joke and make people laugh when they are at their darkest is a gift that lasts forever. Cherish it and let people think what they will. Remember those nearest and dearest to you will always know and love you for what you are."

I whispered some inane platitudes to her and somehow they seemed to be of comfort, while Jerrie gave us an explanation. "About two weeks ago, Vic was coming back to the junkyard from her human home after dark, and was clipped by a car. She managed to get back to the junkyard but Jenny wasn't able to save her. Munk tried to contact us before we left for the eagle camp, and get Chris home, but missed us by a day. They waited as long as they could and held the funeral six days ago."

Chris had taken off the dark glasses that he wore constantly as a human and was sitting there holding onto one of Gemma's hands for grim death, tears streaking both their faces, it'd have been quite cute and I'd give him hell for it on any other day, but today I just reached over and rested my hand on his shoulder in support. Gem just tightened her free arm around his back, it was actually great to see the two of them together, and thanked me with her eyes.

The celebrations about Pete and Jo's news kind of died out in light of the news from home and I really felt sorry for them. This was a huge part of their lives and it'd just been overshadowed by an event on the other side of the planet. I made a point of congratulating them again and trying to swing the mood back to what it was before the phone call, but we all kept thinking back to our white friend/aunt/mother and mentor who was no longer there.

The party kind of just died off and people made their way back to their rooms. Gemma pulled me aside and asked if I would mind finding somewhere else to sleep tonight as she wanted to spend the night with Chris and be there if he needed her. It's not what you think. Both of them were underage but all us adults (Yes, I do consider myself an adult, well sometimes I do) knew that they were both too sensible to do anything that they might regret. Gem had been studying under Jenny as a tribe counsellor and was the best qualified to deal with anything that might arise during the night. This was all well and good but it left me without a bed to sleep in.

I decided that I'd sit down at the bar and have another beer while all the events of the night sunk in. I was sitting there watching some cricket, they were screening a repeat of the Boxing Day test on the TV, when Jacaranda re-entered the bar and came over.

"There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you." She stood there with her hands on her hips, glaring at me as if it was my fault she didn't know where I was.

"Well there dahlin" I said in one of the worst Australian accents you've ever heard, "Oi'm righ' 'ere an' 'ave been awl noight."

She burst into giggles, my work here is done, "don't do that. You sound like dad after he's been into the catnip" and plomped herself down on the seat next to me. "I heard from Gem that you had nowhere to sleep tonight?"

"Correct, my dear. At the moment I am without a place of repose." I switched to a pompous approach, kind of like old Bustopher on a bad day, before he passed away of course.

"Oh Bast. That one's even worse." She covered her ears up in jest before turning a bit shy on me.

"Well seeing as Gems taken over your room and you don't have a bed and I have one spare now. Would you like to use it. To sleep I mean."

She was so beautiful when she blushed. I don't care what form she was in, she was perfect in any one of them. "Sure, but what about your parents? What do Jerrie and Tease think of this?"

"They've already gone to bed and what they don't know won't hurt them, and all we're going to do is sleep."

"What they don't know won't hurt them" I mimicked in a falsetto voice. "No, but if your dad found out I've spent the night in your room it'd probably hurt me, and your mum is simply scary." I grinned to make sure she knew I was joking and threw back the dregs of my beer, before standing and offering her my hand like a good gentlecat. "Shall we?"

She answered my grin with one of her own. "Yes, We shall."

We made our way up to the floor we were all staying on in a kind of comfortable silence, as the elevator doors opened I remembered something. "I just have to get something from my room. Give me a sec."

I ducked into the room and looked briefly at the two Jellicles curled up asleep on the pillows of the bed. The small black form wrapped around the mottled brown and black tom. I quietly pulled a small package out of my pack that I'd picked up during a brief trip into Alice Springs earlier in the afternoon, and then slipped out again.

Jac was waiting outside the door, "Ready now?"

"Yep" I answered and took off at a dead run down the hallway towards her room, laughing as I ran.

"Hey!" she exclaimed and I heard her sprint after me. I'm fast but by the everlasting cat that queen can run. She caught me quite easily in the hallway and passed me without even breaking a sweat, reaching her door a good 5 seconds ahead. By the time I got there she already had the key in the door and was rushing in. I knew she was going to slam it shut on me, but I got my foot in the way just in time.

The door bounced back open and I swung Jac up onto my shoulder before throwing her onto one of the beds. Laughing wildly she rebounded back to her feet and jumped onto my back as I turned to shut the door. Well I wasn't having any of that so I reached behind my head to her upper arms and pulled them apart before flipping her over my head onto the bed once more. Nearly everyone forgets exactly how strong I am, including me, when I need or want to be. The little minx seeing that she wasn't going to get me using brute force fell back on my one weakness.

She waited until I sat down and then leapt upon me and started running her fingers up and down my sides. I roared in laughter and twisted and turned to no avail, this was an old tactic and Jac knew exactly where I was the most ticklish, I was helpless and she knew it.

"I give, I give." I cried.

Jac gave a few more swipes of those clever fingers of hers and then let me sit up. "That was fun" she said. "It was like we were kittens again."

"I know." I said. "Hey it's still a little early. Want to watch a movie?"

"Sure. What choices do we have?"

I flipped on the tv and cycled through the in house and pay tv movies, before settling on a cheesy comedy about some chipmunks that sang and danced. We settled into our hybrid forms and watched Alvin and his brothers get into all sorts of unlikely scrapes and then seem to get out of them just as easily. As it reached the end Jac asked me what I'd stopped back in my room to get.

"Oh. I almost forgot. Where is it." I rifled through my discarded clothing and found the package in a pants pocket.

"Well. You know how it was Christmas a couple of days ago and we were out at the Eagle camp. Well I was thinking about it a bit and when we got to town I wanted to give you something special, so I went into the shops today and found this." I handed her the gift I'd wrapped that afternoon.

Jac looked at it and then back at me, "It's not going to blow up or anything, is it?"

I just shook my head and motioned her to open it. I'd put a lot of thought into this gift and I hoped she liked it. I knew how I felt about her, but I just couldn't bring myself to put it into words that weren't associated with a joke or prank. This was the only way that I could think of that would even come close to letting her know how I felt. The sound of ripping paper ceased and I cringed a bit inside waiting for her reaction.

"Oh Twitch. They're beautiful. Can you help me put them on?" she said in an awed voice and moved to stand in front of the mirror.

I took the double string of Sapphires and Topaz and draped them about her neck doing the clasp up, before standing back to admire them on her throat.

"Gorgeous, and the necklace isn't bad either." I said before sitting back on one of the beds.

Jac stood there for a moment with her forepaw on the gemstones, watching the interplay of light and contrast on her calico fur, before she turned around and jumped on my lap, locking her lips with mine. "I love you, and I love your present" she said after a moment, coming up for air.

Blame the surprise a bit, or blame me for being a bit dense, or even that I'd **NEVER **been kissed like that before, but it took a couple of breaths for what Jac said to permeate through my brain.

"What? You what?" I stammered.

"I love you, you big lunkhead. Always have and always will. Didn't you know that?"

"I. Um. I."

"Hmm. I guess not. Well I do and I know you do too so what are you going to do about it?" she asked me.

"I. Um. I…"

"Yep I got that bit. Want to try for a full sentence or even another syllable or two?" Jac was obviously enjoying this and I just needed to get my brain working and connected to my tounge.

"I love you too." I finally managed to get it out, it must have been the right thing to say as she immediately cuddled up to me and started purring. I've never felt anything quite so perfect in all my life. I wrapt my arms around her and simply held her, feeling the vibrations of her purrs penetrating my very being. They slowly deepened into sleep as my new queenfriend dozed off in my arms.

Now I was worried. Here I was with the Jellicle that I'd loved my entire life and who I'd just found out reciprocated my feelings, she was underage, and we were alone in a hotel room with her passed out in my arms. I couldn't move without waking her up from her peaceful slumber so I did what anyone would.

I fell asleep.

A few hours later I woke to a comfortable furry weight on my arm and a delightful scent in my nose. Somewhere in the night we'd shifted position and were now spooned up to one another, I'd just decided to close my eyes again and drift back off to sleep when I heard the worst thing in the world.

"What in Basts Name is going on in here?" screeched a queen.

I turned my head and saw the agitated faces of my new queenfriends parents…

…

**Well there you go. A little bit of humour and fluff after the last few chapters. Not quite as long as normal but I don't want to start on the next bit this late in the chapter or it'd go on too long.**

**I'm not sure how the first person thing went so please let me know your thoughts.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Journeys Ch 15.**

**Thanks once more for the constant reviews from Jelliclegirl, MsCloverJellicle and Emily. I enjoyed the experiment with the first person view and might do it again later, not sure yet.**

**This chapter is a little bit of a sideways jump from the last one. Enjoy.**

…

The group was stunned. Their snow white friend was dead?

Chris basically collapsed on the spot into Gemma's arms and mates and friends sought comfort from each other.

Jerrie raised a tear streaked face to the group and explained the incident. "About two weeks ago, Vic was coming back to the junkyard from her human home after dark, and was clipped by a car. She managed to get back to the junkyard but Jenny wasn't able to save her. Munk tried to contact us before we left for the eagle camp, and get Chris home, but missed us by a day. They waited as long as they could and held the funeral six days ago." He looked around the group taking in the relationships that seemed to be forming. His daughter Jacaranda was cuddled into Etcy's son Twitch, Gem was comforting the bereft figure of Chris and on another couch Nix was crying into the shoulder of the older queen Kamira who in turn had the support of Alonzo.

Jerries own mate, Teaser, was crying quietly beside him and their leaders, Toby and Dom simply sat there numb. Fussing over the entire party like an old mother hen was Jo. The joy of her own news was suborned by the events of the evening. The group had gone through a lot of trials over the last few weeks and when Jo and Pete had announced they were now expecting, they'd begun to think that their luck had began to change. The news from home was like a slap in the face that the world could be a cruel place.

Twitch tried to lighten the mood with his usual clownish antics but they fell on deaf ears and disapproving stares. Giving up on the jokes he tried to swing the conversation back to Jo and Pete but any start at a discussion tended to die away in an awkward silence. Jerrie and Toby, who'd shaken off the shock, appreciated his efforts, doomed to fail as they were, and quietly laughed to themselves at the situation that the big tom seemed to have gotten himself into with Jerries daughter, who'd wormed her way into his embrace.

Gemma, who had been sitting there with suddenly orphaned Chris, announced that she'd be taking the tom back to his room to begin the counselling that she'd been trained in by Jennyanydots. As the two left the gathering began to break up. Twitch once again made a point of congratulating the expectant parents as they left and Toby caught the eye's of Jerrie and Alonzo, silently indicating that he wanted to talk to them in private. The two toms nodded and headed towards the lift with Teaser, Dom and the queens in tow.

That left Toby and Twitch in the bar.

"What are you going to do for a bed mate?" asked Toby.

"No idea." Twitch replied, "I might just hang here for a bit. Have a drink and watch the telly or something. I'll probably go and see if they have a spare room available for the night at the reception."

"Are you going to be alright?" the white and grey Tom asked of his large friend. At the nod in reply he continued. "Thanks for your efforts tonight. I know it's hard to keep everyone's spirits up and I don't think I let you know how much I appreciate it, enough."

Twitch simply slugged Toby in the arm in response and settled back into the couch. After a moment or two more Toby shrugged and followed his mate to the elevators.

…

Upstairs in Toby and Dom's room gathered the guides of the little group. Jericho and Teaser were sitting on the bed while Dom and Jerrie were sitting in a couple of chairs. Alonzo had begged off the meeting and had gone off to remember his friend in peace, he'd taken Aristotle with him so the meeting would not be disturbed by the young pup.

"Well then. We need to work out a few things I'm afraid" started Toby. "Not the least of which is, how we are going to get Aristotle to America with us?"

"No chance of him learning how to change form in time?" Jericho asked.

"No and even if there were, we have no passport or travel documentation for him. We could always leave him here in the care of Jo and Pete." This idea was met with a rounding no from the group. "Well that just leaves us with having him travel in the hold as cargo. I actually thought this would be how it was going to go and I have gotten him as far as Sydney at the moment. Once we are there I'll need to get some customs and quarantine paperwork sorted out, Kam can help with that, and we need to get all of us on the same flights. It's lucky that the tickets are open ended and we can change them as needed."

Dom interrupted. "I'd like to travel along with him in the hold."

"Sorry babe, but you can't. We need to all pass through customs and immigration together. Jo warned me about how tight the border controls are here and having us missing one of our party could lead to some major questions and delays. The last thing we need now is to be caught up in an immigration row, not to mention the problems we'd cop if we were kept in detention overnight and had to change forms."

Dom, though not happy about it saw the sense of the argument, and acquiesced.

"Ok, so I'll book us into a hotel in Sydney again and see how long it'll take to get Aris on board with us. I'm pretty sure that Jo and Pete will appreciate the extra few days. I've convinced them both to visit the Junkyard before the kits, I mean babies, are born." Toby ran through the valid points of the little meeting, "I know that Jenny for one will be ecstatic to see the pair of them again."

"Now, onto other matters." Toby drew a deep breath. "How is Chris holding up?"

Dom answered that one. "I spoke to your sister before she took him upstairs. She thinks she'll have it all in hand pretty quickly. It's not the first time that she's had to deal with this sort of thing by herself – Dom and Toby shared a look – and she'll be able to get him back on his feet pretty quickly. It'd be easier around the rest of his family but she'll make do."

"How are the rest of you holding up?" Toby asked.

The general response from the small group was pretty pragmatic. They'd all lost friends and family over the years and though it was always a shock, the recent discovery of some of those departed Jellicles had reaffirmed their faith in the Everlasting Cat and the act of Rebirth that was their birthright. They all mourned the loss of their loved one but knew that someone as pure as Victoria would be returned to the world shortly.

The younger ones would need a bit of support over the next few days but they too would come to share the world view of their older friends.

With the major issues of the day dealt with the group broke up and headed off to their respective rooms for whatever rest that would come. They were flying out of Alice Springs the next day and would need an early start.

…

"TOBY!" the tom and his mate were awakened by a loud pounding on their hotel room door. "Toby open this fucking door or so help me I'll kick the fucking thing down!"

The two cats shared a look and Toby rushed towards the door shedding his Jellicle form and grabbing a bathrobe on the fly.

He'd barely unlatched the lock when the door slammed open and he was barrelled aside by the amusing sight of the diminutive form of Rumpleteaser dragging the much larger Twitch into the room by an earlobe. Her other hand was wrapped clawlike about the upper arm of her daughter Jacaranda. Both youngsters were dressed in hurriedly thrown on hotel bathrobes similar to Toby's, and had rather sheepish and embarrassed looks on their faces. Jerrie trailed them into the room and quietly shut the door, unlike the furious look on his mates face, Jerrie's bore a small smirk and some restrained laughter in his eyes.

Toby bemused followed the four cats back into the hotel room to witness Jacaranda being forced onto the bed and Twitch being hauled across the room to be thrown into a chair.

He was immediately accosted by the furious queen. "He's your friend, so you deal with him!"

"Oh Bast." Toby thought to himself, "what's the twit done now."

Toby looked at the two cringing youngsters and noticed a red and gold glint around the young queens neck. "Oh No! He couldn't have?" Toby looked over at Dom who'd interposed herself between Teaser and Twitch, she motioned for him to carry on.

"Twitch? Would you like to tell me what's going on?" asked Toby.

The big tom just sunk back in his chair, trying to avoid the glares of Teaser and remained mute.

"Jac? How about you? Got anything to say?"

The young queen-kit glared at her mother. "We weren't doing anything wrong."

It was enough to set Teaser off, "Nothing wrong? Nothing wrong? If you think that that is nothing wrong then you've got another thing coming young kitten." The older queen trailed off into apoplectic sputters.

Toby finally turned to the most stable seeming of the foursome. "Jerrie? Would you care to explain what the hell is going on here?"

Jerrie just laughed, drawing a death stare from his mate. "We went up to Jac's room this morning to invite her down to breakfast and found her door was unlocked. When we went in there we found these two in a bit of a compromising situation."

Toby and Dom's heads turned towards Twitch as if on strings. "How compromising?" asked Dom.

"Well it looked pretty bad, but the two of them swear that nothing happened."

"Nothing happened my ass!" muttered Teaser.

"Twitch?" Toby turned to his friend.

The big tom who'd buried himself as deeply as he could into the chair muttered something inaudible.

"Again please and so I can hear it."

"We were just sleeping" Twitch said again. "I know that Jac is still underage for another month and I won't do anything to jeopardise our relationship before then."

"Sleeping! It looked like you were doing a hell of a lot more than sleeping" screeched Teaser.

Toby ignored the comment. "Run me through what happened."

"Well, after you guys left me in the bar I didn't have a bed for the night. Jac came down and offered me Gemma's as she was in my room with Chris, you might want to talk to your dad about those two as well, and I accepted. We watched a movie and I gave Jac that present that I told you about – Dom looked at her mate quizzically – and Jac fell asleep on me. I know I should have moved but I was comfortable and I guess I kind of fell asleep too." The big kit actually blushed. "Goddammit! You all know how I feel about her and I've just found out that she feels the same way about me too."

Dom approached the queen-kit on the bed. "Is this true Jac?"

"Yes" came the sullen reply, "I love him."

"What was the present that he gave you?" Dom asked, strangely intent on the answer.

Jac pulled apart the neck of her robe exposing the jewelled necklace. "When I change forms it can be made into a double row, kind of like a choker."

"Or a collar?" Dom asked again.

"A collar? I suppose s…" Jac trailed off looking over at Twitch in shock. "You gave me a collar?"

Even Teaser was taken aback at this revelation, not to mention the next actions by her daughter.

Jac leapt off the bed and before anyone could stop her, pounced on Twitch, showering him with kisses.

Jerrie seeing that nobody else was going to react paced over and gently drew Jacaranda off her tomfriend. Teaser simply sat there staring once more at the two of them, her expression unreadable.

"A collar! My kitten's been given a collar." Teaser murmured to herself again and again.

She finally looked over to where her daughter was sitting, clutching her newly revealed collar in her hands, before getting up and holding her arms out to her only offspring. Jacaranda sprang with a cry into her mother's arms, both of them crying tears of joy.

Jerrie found the tables had turned and was now giving Twitch an appraising and slightly hostile look. The young tom had proved himself on the island during the cave in but Jerrie still wasn't sure if he was son material. "Have you got anything to say Twitch?" he growled.

"I love her. I knew what I was doing when I gave her the necklace, but I wasn't intending to tell her until after her birthday when I was going to ask her to be my mate." Twitch responded.

Mate.

At that one word the room fell silent.

Teaser extricated herself from her daughters' arms and stalked towards Twitch.

"You know that she is underage? You know that the two of you have broken our trust? What makes you think that you have the right to enter into mateship with my daughter, that you even have the right to ever see her again?"

"I know that Jac is not seventeen yet. I know it can look like we've betrayed you, but I swear that all we did was sleep." Here Twitch drew a deep breath and his voice lost any hint of banter and a steely determination entered his tone, "but you cannot deny us our love and you cannot stop us from seeing each other. Anywhere she goes I will follow her and there's nothing that you can do to stop us."

Halfway through this little speech Jac had wormed her way under Twitches arm and stood there glaring at her parents.

The silence stretched between the two pairs, until Toby clapped his hands together and broke the spell.

"You wanted me to sort this out, and I will. " He announced, "Twitch and Jacaranda. You are not to be alone together until Jac turns 17 on Jan 24 after which time you can do whatever the hell you want" he paused at that and revised his last statement, "as long as it's legal. Teaser and Jerrie. You will not stand in their way. They are both good kits and we all know that having a loving partner can make the world a much easier place in which to live. Until Jac is of age, one of you will be the chaperone on any dates or meetings between the two of them."

Neither party was particularly happy about the outcome but both felt that they'd done better than the other so didn't cause a fuss. They filed out of the room to pack their belongings for the flight and Toby collapsed back on the bed.

"Why the hell did they bring that crap to me?" he asked.

"Because, you're our leader in this, and you're becoming a great one." Dom assured him, "Now come on. We need to pack and be out of here in an hour."

"No rest for the wicked." Sighed the tom as his mate threw his clothes at him.

"You've got that right!"

…

**Well that's it for this chapter. I considered going into the trip a little but decided that I want to save that for the next one. **

**In case you haven't realised it yet, giving another Jellicle a collar is akin to an engagement and wedding ring rolled into one.**

**I hope that this chapter is starting to show the development of Toby into the leader he is supposed to become.**

**Please let me know what you think.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Journeys Chapter 16.**

**Thank you MsCloverJellicle and FadedBooklookWithin. Your reviews mean a lot to me, and seeing as they are the only way that I know people are enjoying the story, the reason I keep writing. **

**I know it's been a long time between chapters and I can only blame the hectic pace at work and the writers laziness when I get home. I'll try to pick my act up a little bit.**

**Please note that I know it takes a lot longer to get paperwork cleared by government departments and I'm conveniently ignoring that little fact for the sake of the story, and my own sanity.**

**Now it's onto our travel guide of Australia and its events. ;-)**

…

The group piled out of the bus after the short trip to the airport and rushed to the counter to check in. Due to the incident that morning they were running dangerously late for their flight, Twitch for one was still cramming clothes into his backpack while they waited in the queue and trying unsuccessfully to avoid the glares of his queenfriends mother. Due to the lateness they'd decided to play up Chris's blindness to get Aristotle on the same flight as a guide dog under training. Luckily the airport staff had cut the group a break and forgone the usual documentation and were allowing Aris in the cabin. Toby made a mental note to get Kamira to source the documentation required to have the pollicle recognised for the rest of their journey, whilst they were in Sydney.

After checking in they were escorted directly to the aircraft for the three hour flight and settled into the business class seats. Aristotle was strapped into a jump seat up near the kitchenette, while not the most comfortable of seats it was head and shoulders above a crate in the hold. Apart from the continuing glares from Teaser at Twitch, the queen just couldn't let go, the flight was uneventful and they arrived in Sydney at about 2 o'clock in the afternoon.

While the rest of the group waited for the bags, Toby, Dom and Alonzo headed for the Qantas counter to try and get new tickets and arrange for the addition of Aristotle to the next leg of the trip.

"I'm very sorry sir but we will not be able to accommodate your group for at least a week," was the response they got from the staff member at the sales counter. "If you were willing to split your group between cabins then we may be able to get you on earlier."

"No. That is fine, we'll keep the group together in business please, but if you can get us on any earlier flights then please contact us on this number." Toby passed the girl the mobile phone number.

The three cats turned away. "Well that's that then." Alonzo said. "Looks like another week in Sydney."

"Yeah, another weeks delay." Dom griped.

"Look on the bright side. At least we get to spend some more time with Pete and Jo." Toby pointed out. "And it'll give Kam more time to get us paperwork for Aristotle, I don't know what we'd do without her skill with computers."

"True, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. I just want to go home, I haven't even told mum and dad about the kittens yet." Dom was getting more and more upset as time went on, weariness and the constant trials that they seemed to be going through were starting to show.

"Shhh, darling. We'll be at the hotel soon and after we have a bit of a rest we'll ring home. I'm sure everyone wants to hear from us." Toby tried to calm Dom down, helped as they approached the rest of the group by the pollicle Olive, who up until now had stayed well into the background due to her being mute.

She'd had a budding infatuation with Chris, but that had been nipped in the bud when she'd seen the bond with, and concern shown by Gemma. The young husky however didn't dwell on the loss of romance, she was simply too intelligent to have believed that it would have worked or that it would even be allowed by the members of either tribe. In the end she simply took pleasure in having the opportunity to see the rest of the world, something that traditionally she'd have not had the chance form until much later in life after she'd proved herself in one of the teams.

The tired group gathered their bags and boarded the train to the Sydney CBD and their hotel in Darling Harbour. Jo and Pete had been given a room again as the group was heading to the new years eve firework show and there wouldn't really be time to head out to their home and back again. Everyone headed up to their rooms for some rest after checking in, bar Kamira who went down to the nearest internet café to begin sorting stuff out for Aristotle. On her way down to the local shopping centre she saw an interesting little display at a computer store and after making a small purchase went to make a phone call.

…

Toby and Dom had managed to get a couple of hours sleep before being woken up by Jerrie for dinner. The group gathered downstairs and opted for simplicity that night and ate in the hotel restaurant instead of braving the crowded streets and foreshores. After a very nice meal they all headed back up to the penthouse that Jo and Pete had been spoiled with to settle on the balcony with some drinks and watch the night's festivities. Jericho in particular was looking forward to the fireworks as he'd heard that they were some of the most impressive displays in the world, being scattered throughout the CBD and around Sydney harbour with the centrepiece of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House.

While they were waiting, Kamira revealed the little surprise she'd been hinting at throughout their meal, and pulled out a brand new state of the art laptop computer. At the quizzical looks and responses she received from the rest of the group she went on to show them the features that the computer had, culminating in an explanation of the inbuilt webcam camera and the inclusion of a small program that she'd seen on display called "Skype".

"You see, when we press this button, the little camera there at the top of the screen turns on and will film us as we use the program. That way when we call another computer that has it installed, they can see us and we can see them." Kam explained.

"So what?" asked Dom who honestly didn't understand human technology that well.

"Well. I called home earlier today and got Jet to install the program on the computer that I used to do all our travel and documents and all that before we left. It's got one of these camera's too and I already had it hooked up to the internet. So one other thing I did today was to organise us some 'net time with the hotel, and if you look right there," Kam pointed at a little flashing icon on the screen, "you can see that someone at home is waiting for us to call them, so we'll just click here and viola!"

The computer screen flashed a couple of times and revealed the faces of Bomba and Tugger peering intently into the camera. The two of them jumped back a bit as the connection was made and the picture of the travelling group appeared.

"Call it my little Christmas present to you Dominica." Kam said, "now take it into the other room and have a nice chat with your mum and dad."

Toby gathered up his mate and the computer, after being shown where to plug in the power leads, and took them both into the bedroom before shutting the door.

…

An hour later the couple exited the room and Toby asked "Ok then. Who wants to talk to home next? Everyone there is waiting." Dom simply approached Kamira and hugged the other queen until she was sure she'd heard her ribs creak, whispering "Thank you so much" in her ear.

Chris declined saying that it would be wasted on him and he was happy enough with phone calls, so Twitch, Jac, Jerrie and Teaser went in to have a bit of a heart to heart with Etcetera and Admentus.

As the night went on the group either singly or in pairs or groups made their made their way before the camera to talk to home and release a lot of the tension and emotional drain that had occurred in the past several weeks. Finally everyone had seen and spoken to their friends and relatives privately so Kamira brought the laptop out and set it up on the balcony so that they could be seen to be enjoying themselves as the new year rolled in.

They had the TV tuned to a local station and counted down with the announcers the last 10 seconds of the year. As the last second rolled in various pairing kissed there on the balcony, to the amusement of some of the cats watching the camera from home. Dom and Toby locked lips, as did Jo and Pete. Twitch leaned in to give Jac a rather chaste peck, under a glare from Teaser, who then turned and dragged Jerrie into a much more intense pash that left her a little breathless, and gave Jerrie a chance to give the budding couple a bit of encouragement. "Call that a kiss? Put a bit of effort into it next time." He chided the big tom with a grin.

Twitch ever ready to rise to a challenge proceeded to give Jac a real toecurler to the hoots and hollers of his friends both in the room and at home. After the display and supporting his rather lightheaded queenfriend, Twitch turned to the older couple with a hint of challenge in his eyes. Jerrie winked and Teaser after a moment gave him a slight nod and turned away to wish the younger queens a happy new year.

One of the suprises to the cats at home was the embrace of one of the younger couples off to the side. Gemma had cornered Chris on a sofa and was laying a series of small nips and kisses around his jawline, much to the blind toms embarrassment, before Toby who was seeing the increasing concern in his fathers' face on the computer screen, interrupted his sister and told her to calm it down a little bit, deciding that they'd better get together for a family meeting the following day to explain a few things.

Kamira and Jet looked at each other over the computer and mouthed a couple of words, inaudible to everyone else but garnering a sweet reaction none the less, from each other.

Alonzo and Cass each held out a hand/paw to the computer and didn't say a word. It was simply like they were holding hands from half a world away.

The group settled into the chairs lining the balcony and watched the fireworks usher in the new year. As touted by the media the show was absolutely spectacular, a multitude of fireworks all synchronised to go off in time with the music being broadcast through the local radio stations. The bridge itself was being used as both a launch platform and a prop for the displays, culminating in a curtain of light falling from the half kilometre span, while a shower of mortars fired off fireworks along the top and others were launched from around the harbour and city buildings.

Entranced with the display and stimulated by the event the group broke up as everyone headed back to their rooms to sleep, or whatever. A partially inebriated Toby made a point of ensuring that everyone knew that the next three days were their own to do whatever they wanted, just be safe and don't do anything that would expose them.

With that he grabbed Dom by the hand and dragged the slightly drunk queen off to their room, followed shortly after by Teaser and Jerrie who'd decided on the spur of the moment that they'd trust the youngsters to Alonzo's care.

Alonzo simply said "Don't do anything stupid, stay safe and I'll see you all tomorrow" before leaving the youngsters to party and headed to bed muttering something about "getting too old for all this shit anymore."

Pete and Jo had already departed to another room and Jericho had taken Aristotle off slightly before Alonzo, which left Twitch, Jacaranda, Olive, Chris, Gemma, Nix and Kamira to amuse themselves. Not willing to call it a night the kits decided to go and join the throng of people celebrating in the streets, so that's exactly what they did.

…

Jerrie and Teaser were rudely shaken awake by Jac. "Mum, Dad. Come quick we need you."

"Wha? Whassamatta?" mumbled Jerrie.

"Come on. We need you NOW!" Jacaranda latched onto her father's paw and dragged his still dopey form out of the bed.

"Ok, ok I'm up. Just let me put on some clothes."

"Mum, we need you too. Quickly, get Toby and come to Alonzo's room."

Jerrie changed forms and threw on a pair of shorts and t-shirt from the bag beside the bed before following his daughter out of the room. Teaser who'd finally managed to sit up flopped back down into the covers and began to go back to sleep. Until the urgency in her daughters voice permeated through the funk. Groaning quietly she dressed and made her way out of the room as well.

Jerire and Jac made their way to the room where Alonzo was staying to a scene of pandemonium. Olive and Nix were passed out on a bed in hybrid form, and Kamira was sitting on the edge of the same bed mumbling incoherently. Chris had a large gash running down his arm, which was being tended to by Alonzo. Twitch was nowhere to be seen. Gemma was beside herself with worry for Chris and was alternating between crying and berating the young tom for something.

Jerrie groaned and set to. Seeing that Alonzo had Chris well in hand he went to see what he could do for Kam. He approached the young queen and tried to get her to lie down with her friends.

"Come on Kamira. Lie down and sleep it off. That's the way baby." He directed his next question to his daughter, "What has she taken?"

"We don't know. We were out dancing and Olive and Nix started to feel funny then Kam said the same. All we were drinking was soft drink and juice. After everything happened and we got back here, Olive and Nikky were nearly unconscious and Kam wasn't much better. We brought them here because it was the closest room." Explained the young calico queen.

"What do you mean with 'Everything Happened?' and where's Twitch?" asked Toby who'd entered during Jac's explanation.

"Um. There was a fight and Twitch was arrested."

"He was WHAT?"

Chris piped up from where Alonzo had paused in wrapping up the slice in his arm. "We weren't ready to call it a night and decided to go out a party a bit. We were having a great time, we'd found a street party going down near the water and joined it. We actually did listen to what you told us earlier and made sure it was an alcohol free zone, so no one was drinking anything harder than coke or juice, there were plenty of other people there drunk though." He paused and winced a little as Alonzo resumed wrapping the bandage. "We were out on the dance floor and the girls started to complain of feeling dizzy and a little out of it so we figured it was time to wrap it up. There were a couple of human males that had been dancing around and trying to chat up the queens and they didn't want us to leave. When we insisted one of them pulled a knife and stabbed Twitch in the shoulder. The knife must have gotten caught because this guy couldn't pull it out and Twitch belted him, knocking him out. That would have been the end of it except the rest of this guys group piled onto Twitch except for a couple who grabbed the queens and started to drag them away. I attacked them and that's where I got cut up. By the time I got the queens out the police had arrived and were arresting everyone. The last we saw of Twitch was of him being bundled up into an ambulance with a couple of police officers and he was being taken to Saint Vincent's Hospital from the radio call I heard on the Ambulance."

"Shit. OK then I'll get Pete and head up to this hospital and see what we can find out and we'll get a doctor in to find out what the queens have taken. Put Kam into her room and I'll get the doctor up, we can't let him see the others." Toby headed out to wake the human pair and explain what was going on.

A few moments later Jo hurried into the room and headed straight to the queens. She gave them all a quick examination and then tucked Kam in beside the other two, before sitting back. "They've been drugged. I've seen it before a few times on board the ship and at parties. We'll have to keep an eye on them but they should be ok after a bit of sleep. They'll be missing a few days and will probably not feel that great as it wears off but at least they made it home. We shouldn't need a doctor."

"What's this drug thing?" asked Gemma, she'd never heard of anything like it before.

"It's called a ruufie or a date rape drug. There's various types, but it's usually colourless and flavourless so it can be put into victims drinks. It puts the victims into a state like you see here and makes them extremely susceptible to suggestions. The person who put it in can then take the victim away and do whatever they want to them. It's disgusting and a big problem in the party scene, the police have been trying to educate everyone but it's still an ongoing issue." Jo went on, "Pete has headed off to the hospital with Toby. Does anyone know when Twitch last transformed?"

"Um. It was yesterday afternoon" replied Jac.

"K thanks." Jo made a call on her mobile. "Pete? Jo. He last changed at about 3-4 yesterday." She looked over at Jac for confirmation. At Jac's nod she continued "yep about then so you've got a couple of hours to sort stuff out. OK. Fine I love you too."

"They're on their way. Now then everyone else head back to bed, Alonzo you can use my room. I'll keep an eye on the queens but you all need your sleep." She ushered the group out the door and settled into a chair to watch the sleeping forms of the three hybrids on the bed.

…

Ten o'clock that morning saw the return of Pete and Toby. They entered Alonzo's room where Jo was still keeping a vigil on the sleeping queens, the rest of the adults had joined her there and they were talking quietly.

Dom stood at their entrance, "Did you find out anything?"

Toby sighed. "He's not there. They did take him in there through the emergency room and he was taken to surgery to get the knife out pretty quickly. I posed as his brother and we found that much out at least. Apparently there was some sort of incident in his room later and he's vanished. A nurse was in hysterics and the police guard looked shocked. We spent the last hour or so dodging the police who were combing the hospital for him, before coming back here. We did find out that he wasn't going to be charged with anything as they'd caught everything on CCTV and the police were purely there to get his statement after surgery."

"So what do we do now?" asked Teaser.

"All we can do is wait. I'm going down to the lobby in case he walks in. It's not much good going out looking for him. None of us know the city and there's literally thousands of people out there at the moment after last night's celebrations. All we can do is hope he makes it back here."

With that Toby got up to make his way to the door. Teaser, Jerrie and Dom volunteered to wait with him downstairs. They left the room and those remaining resumed their conversation. A few moments later the door banged open once more and the three cats re-entered supporting a fourth. The figure of Twitch. He'd been in the elevator as the doors opened.

He was partially dressed, missing his shoes and belt, and blood was staining the shoulder of his open shirt. Jo jumped up and guided him over to the spare bed in the room where she laid him down and peeled away the bloodstained cloth to reveal the open wound. As she poked and prodded around the damage Twitch, wincing, began his story.

"I take it that you've been told what happened?" At Tobies nod, he continued. "Well then. They took me off to the hospital and the copper that went with me asked what happened so I told him. The paramedics jabbed me with something and said that I'd need to go to surgery to get the knife out, it was too close to blood vessels or something. So we got to the hospital and had to wait there for a little bit before the copper went off and had a word to some doctors, next thing I know they were wheeling me into a room with a few big lights and jabbed me with another needle. After that I passed out and woke up later in an empty room on a bed."

Twitch looked around the group and drew in a deep breath. "I was in my normal form. I must have changed sometime after they sedated me. I figured I'd better make myself human again and I was partway through the transformation when a nurse came in. She screamed and dropped the tray she was carrying, this brought the cop outside the door into the room and he fainted. I grabbed my clothes and wallet and threw them out the window before jumping out in my cat form. Once I was outside I hid in a bush to get dressed and then legged it back here."

"Dammit. Twitch." Exclaimed Toby. "I suppose it could have been worse, but who could have known we'd transform if we were drugged, but it's only two humans so it's not that bad."

Twitch looked a little nervous. "Um. That's not all I'm afraid. You see. Um. I didn't see it until I jumped out the window but the room had a security camera, probably for the police, and it was on. I think we've been exposed."

Toby hid his face in his hands for a second before lifting his head to admonish Twitch for his carelessness. Before he could say anything however they were interrupted by Jericho, who entered the room saying "You really need to see this!"

The pollicle turned the TV on and tuned into a local news channel. There, in full colour video, was the scene Twitch had just described, and the caption, "Cat creature discovered in Saint Vincent Hospital."

"Oh Bast!" said Dom.

…

**There you go. Another chapter done and a big reveal at the end I hope you like, the effects of this won't be immediate but they will be far reaching.**

**The drug effect description was a little simplistic and the effects and lingering issues from the use of such are a lot more substantial than I've stated in the story. I tried to put a little warning into the scene, but let me make it clear here. If you go out partying these days, ensure you don't accept drinks from others and make damn sure you keep a close eye on it or you could very well end up in the same boat as the queens in the story but worse.**

**Please let me know what you guys and girls think of the way this is going. I live for my reviews.**

**Thankyou.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Journeys Chap 17**

…

**I can't actually thank anyone for a review this time as I haven't received any for the last chapter. I can only hope that the people who have read it are happy with the direction I'm going.**

**Now on with the repercussions of Twitches little adventure.**

…

Everyone began to talk at once making it impossible to actually hear anything being said.

Toby let out a piercing whistle. "Hold it everyone! Let's all think about it for a minute, and not go off half cocked. Jericho? Is this the only footage they've shown?"

"I honestly don't know. It looks like the same stuff they were playing a few minutes ago. It's not a real good image quality," replied the pollicle.

Everyone turned to watch the TV set. It was showing the same loop of video, about 53 seconds long, of a small figure jumping out of bed and going through the now familiar transformation process. Except for this time a door was seen to open in the corner of room and a nurse dressed in green scrubs entering carrying a metal tray with some equipment on it. Upon witnessing the events within the room the nurse seemed to scream, seemed to scream because there was no sound attached to the film, and drop the tray cowering back in fright. This brought a police officer rushing into the room who when seeing the transformation in front of his eyes, hurriedly backed away as he tried to pull out his sidearm. He seemed to slip, probably on the tray's contents, as he backed past the terrified nurse and landed flat on his back, striking his head on the wall as he fell. "So he didn't faint then" murmured Twitch. The figure near the bed, now a man sized cat looking thing on two legs, grabbed some clothing from a chair before throwing, the chair, the clothing and itself through the rooms' window, just before more people were seen to be running in. At this point the video looped back to the start again.

The group watched the film a couple more times before Toby spoke. "Well that makes me feel a lot better. The video quality is poor and it never quite shows your face Twitch. Do you know if any photos or other video was taken that they might be able to use to identify you?"

"Only what they would have off the CCTV camera down in the park, but it was pretty dark. I can't think that they'd be able to see any facial details," replied the big Tom. "Oh Bast. All of the kids were there. They know that there are more of us and you and Pete came to the hospital looking for me."

"Toby and I are fine" interrupted Pete. "I gave them a false name and I can't think that the camera's in the public area are any better quality than what you see here."

"What about ID? What did you have in your wallet?" asked Jo.

Twitch palmed his wallet out of the back pocket of his jeans. "Um. Nothing they'd be able to use. Just some cash, my credit card, but that just leads to the company account setup by the Pollicles, and the mobile number for back home. I was able to give them a name before the surgery so they'd have had no real reasons to go through my stuff, they told me I wasn't being charged with anything."

Toby let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding and relieved said, "We may have dodged a bullet here, but until we're sure. Nobody is to go out of the hotel, except Jo and Pete. We've got at least 5 days here so we're just going to hide. I'll set up a roster and I want two people down outside the foyer at all times in case police show up, use feline forms so that you can escape notice."

He turned to Jo. "Any idea how long it's going to take to get Kam back on her feet? I need her computer expertise."

"No idea, sorry" replied Jo. "They could be awake in a couple more hours or a couple of days and there's no guarantee that she'll be able to function that well when she does wake."

"Shit. Ok then I'll have to do it another way." Toby muttered, more to himself than anyone else. "Alonzo. Can you go get the computer from Pete's room please mate? Ta."

As Alonzo left Toby picked up the room phone and started to punch in numbers.

It started to ring and Toby hit the speakerphone setting while he waited for someone to pick up on the other end.

"Hello?" said a groggy voice.

"Who's this? Tumblebrutus?" Toby asked. "Tumble. It's Toby. I need you to get Jet for me immediately; we're in the middle of an emergency here at the moment. After that can you wake, Mum, Dad, Munk and Old D and have them go to Kamira's computer please."

Tumblebrutus still a little shellshocked at hearing the urgency in the voices of his friends and relatives ran off to wake Gemma's brother.

While they were waiting, Alonzo returned with the laptop and was directed to set it up on the table.

Soon the voice of Jet emerged from the speaker phone, with Tumble quietly arguing in the background. "Toby? What's up? You know it's like 3am here right now? Everyone's asleep."

"Well go wake them the fuck up. What part of emergency don't you cats understand?"

A hiss and the sound of running footsteps could be heard through the phone.

"OK Tumbles gone to wake them. What do you need?" Jet asked.

"Kam is still passed out and I need you to tell me…" Toby was interrupted by a hideous snarl over the phone.

"What's happened to Kamira?" demanded Jet.

"She's fine. I'll tell you once Mum and Dad get here, but I need you to run me through connecting that camera thing up on the computer. Something's happened and we need a conference."

"She bloody better be or I'm going to kill you Toby." Jet replied and then ran through the startup process for the laptop and got the Skype program up and running.

They'd just made the datalink and gotten the camera running when the tribes elders ran through the door showing on the screen. "What's happened?" asked Jemima as soon as she saw Toby on the monitor at their end.

"We've had another incident down here and we've been exposed. Once Granddad and Old D get here I'll run you through what's happened." Toby said.

They waited impatiently until finally the slim and beside it much stockier figures of Munkunstrap and Old Dueteronomy entered the picture. Half the cats in the room unconsciously sang under their breath, "I believe it is Old Deuteronomy."

Toby greeted the assembled cats and quickly brought them up to speed.

Jet, though shocked at what had happened, quickly conducted a search while Toby was explaining and brought up the video footage that had already been put onto the internet. Scanning the comments on YouTube and the Australian news sites it became pretty plain that, apart from the odd crackpot, the majority of the public initially believed that the footage was faked. The assertions from the police and hospital that the footage was genuine just furthered the belief that it was some kind of hoax. Jet had even managed to find the CCTV camera footage from the street party exposing the fight, and though of a better quality than the hospital, didn't ever show a clear image of any of the Jellicles.

The relief at this was palpable both in the hotel room and back at home in England. To all appearances it looked like their secret was safe. Just to make sure though Munk rescinded the orders for everyone except Twitch and Toby to remain sequestered in the hotel and Pete and Jo were advised that it'd probably be best if they headed home as soon as they could for their own safety.

Toby and Twitch though chafing under the restrictions saw the reasoning behind it as they would be the only ones that could possibly be identified through witness descriptions.

Pete and Jo headed off to get their gear together, while the rest of the Jellicles said goodbye to each other and then headed down to the lobby to see off their newfound old friends.

Jo gave Gemma and Teaser some advice as to how to treat the three queens as they recovered and what to look for in case of complications. The couple made their way around the group saying their goodbyes and assuring them all that they would get together again in the future. Dom extracted a promise from them that they'd make a visit to the Junkyard before the birth of the twins and to ensure it would happen, one of the credit cards was handed to Pete together with the pin number. "Remember mate" said Toby as he gave it over. "There's enough money in that to set it up that you will never have to work again. Use it wisely and we'll see you in a few months."

With that one last round of hugs was had by the queens and Jo and Pete left the hotel. They were followed out by Alonzo and Jacaranda who were taking up a vigil outside, while the rest headed back to their rooms. Chances were pretty good that they were safe but Toby wasn't going to take any risks and still wanted the sentries maintained until they left.

…

Luckily for the sanity of the group the two queens and one bitch came out of their experience none the worse for wear after another day or so of sleep. They experienced some mood swings and disorientation but Jo had warned the cats to expect it.

Nobody really felt like doing much sightseeing and the departure of Pete and Jo put a slight miasma over the mood of the group that slowly dissipated as their departure date crept closer.

The day of their departure dawned hot as usual and the group for once was packed and ready to go early. Twitch and Toby especially were keen to get away from the hotel that had been their prison for the last week.

Kamira had managed to work her magic with the internet, and had sourced all the documents for Aristotle to be classed as a service dog and would be allowed to travel within the cabin with Christo, which a huge weight off the mind of Dom, who'd fretted until the paperwork had come through.

Check in and the security screening though tense, especially when Toby was targeted for a random explosives sweep, went smoothly and once more the detection dogs patrolling the concourse, alternatively growled or wanted to play with the various members of the group. It was during one such encounter that Jericho got a surprise when one beagle whispered to Aristotle to "have a nice flight." Bending down on the pretext of giving the beagle a pat, Jericho palmed a phone number to the dog and whispered back that if he ever wanted to contact the pollicle leadership, then he could get them on that number. The look he got from the dog was nearly enough for the handler to pull Jericho aside for a frisk search, but was pulled away by his charge in the direction of some teenagers instead. Jericho just grinned to himself at the further acknowledgment that pollicles could and would appear in guises other than that of the husky.

The groups flight was called and they made their way to business class and settled in for the 13 hour flight to Los Angeles and their connecting flights to Anchorage for the gathering of the pollicle tribe, before their last long journey, and home.

…

**Well we're now out of Australia and on our way to Alaska in winter. Details are probably going to be a little sparse from here for a bit as I have never been to the place and will have to go off what I can find on the net.**

**As always, I would love you to leave me a review and let me know what you think of the story so far.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Journeys Chap 18**

**Thanks once more to MsCloverJellicle and Faded Book-Look Within. I really do appreciate the reviews, for both previous chapters I might add.**

**A few things with the last two chapters.**

**I often deploy away like most servicemen and women, and I know how hard it is to be away from the ones you love, especially around the holidays. On the last long trip we went on, a mate brought his laptop along with skype enabled and we were all able to speak to loved ones back home. It did kind of help with the homesickness.**

**As for the drugging scene. Date rape drugs exist. I know of several friends that have been victims of these and they all suffered horribly after the fact. I was tempted to go into further details however I held myself back over it and left it where it was. **

**I've also been asked about the simplicity of the escape. Yes. It was simple. Did they escape un-affected? You'll have to wait and see.**

**Oh and it's not the last we see of Pete and Jo I don't think. Afterall, they still need to introduce the tribe to their kids.**

**Now. On with the story.**

…

The plane touched down in LA International and after the captain parked at the gate and switched off the seatbelt signs, the cats got to their feet to stretch and collect their cabin bags. Exiting the aircraft they immediately noticed the cold breeze entering through the gaps in the passenger bridge.

"I'll have to dig a pair of jeans and a jumper out before we go too far" commented Nix. "I've gotten too used to the Australian heat." A round of agreement was heard from the others.

The group made their way to the carousels to pick up their bags and then through the now familiar security and customs checks. As normal the drugs dogs took an active interest in the group and this time Twitch was taken away for a routine search, after one dog showed a marked fascination with him. The rest of the group waited out in the concourse for the large tom that eventually appeared about an hour and a half later.

"What happened this time, Twitch?" asked Alonzo.

"Bloody dog took a liking to me and they thought I was smuggling something" griped the tom. "They went through my bags and then did a patdown of me. When the guy squeezed my shoulder I swore at him and they wanted to know why. That led to a pile of questions about what happened to me and what I was doing in the country. They got sick of finding nothing and let me go."

He shook his head, "why are all these things happening to me?"

"Because you deserve it" muttered Teaser.

Twitch gave the older queen a dirty look and stomped away "I need a coffee."

The rest of the group just turned to look at Teaser, accusation in their eyes.

"What?" she said. "Well he did deserve it. How many times has he caused us trouble on this trip?" Teaser looked towards Jerrie for support.

"Don't bring me into this darlin'. Especially when I don't agree with you."

"You had no problems with him getting into trouble up until a few days ago Teaser" Said Jericho. "What happened to change your opinion of him? Is this about him getting together with Jac?"

"I… No it's, it's… I don't know what it is but he ANNOYS me!" spluttered Tease.

"So it is about him and Jac then" said Jericho knowingly. "Tease. He's proved himself time and time again. Sure, he's stuffed up a couple of times but he's also saved Jac twice. If it wasn't for him we'd have lost her on the island and god knows what would have happened to the three girls in Sydney if he wasn't there. You need to get over yourself and start seeing him for the Jellicle he really is and not the animal you think."

Teaser looked around the group and they all seemed to be agreeing with Jericho. Even her mate MungoJerrie was nodding his head in agreement.

A feeling of betrayal spiked through her. "I'd have thought I'd at least have your support Jerrie." She hissed.

"I'm sorry babe, but I can't support you in this. Twitch is a fine tom and will make an excellent mate for our daughter. He's made a few mistakes but so did we, or are you forgetting how I got you your pearls and you got me my old vest all those years ago or how we…" replied Jerrie before being interrupted by his mate.

"It's not about us. We can't trust him. Look at what we caught him doing to our little girl in Alice Springs."

"Mum" interrupted a now furiously embarrassed Jacaranda. "How many times do I have to tell you this. Nothing happened! All we did was sleep together, well not sleep, sleep together but we, um, well you know what I mean. He was the perfect gentletom, he loves me, I love him and he keeps me safe. What more do I need? Let's face it mum. No one is ever going to be good enough in your eyes. Lucky for me it's not up to you. It's up to me. So just BUTT OUT!"

Teaser just stood there for a second, rage fairly evident on her face, and simply turned her back on her friends and stalked away, many people in the crowded concourse took one look at the angry womans face and cleared a path.

Jerrie started to go after his mate; however he was restrained by a hand on his arm. "Let her go and cool off mate." Toby said quietly. "We all knew something like this was coming and she needed to get it out. Now we just need her to calm down and having you or any of us go barrelling down there after her wouldn't achieve anything. Our connecting flight is in a few hours and she has her ticket with her, we'll see her at the plane."

"I suppose you're right but I don't like seeing her like this. She's gotta learn that Jac isn't a little kitten anymore. She's nearly 17 and will be looking for her mate. Teaser should be happy that it is someone who we can trust, mostly, and will always take care of her. I don't like what we walked in on either but the two of them swear that nothing went on, but the collar was offered and worn and I really thought Tease was over it then. She seemed a lot more accepting. Maybe she's just tired, it's been a long flight, I should go look for her and make her get some sleep."

Before the older tom could run off, Toby caught his arm again. "Stay with us. We'll find her later. For now we'll go and chase down that itinerant son-in-law of yours, well nearly anyway, and make sure he's ok."

…

They found him a few minutes later parked in a booth in one of the many Starbucks that adorned the airport shopping area and they arranged themselves around him.

"Ya know that none of us think the same as Tease. Don' ya mate?" queried Jerrie.

"Yeah I suppose so." Twitch replied and took a sip out of the jumbo sized cup in front of him, making a face as he did, "god this stuff tastes like shit. What I wouldn't do for a good cup of tea. I really thought she was getting over that night, you know? I thought she'd trust me again."

Jacaranda wormed her way under his arm, "she'll have to come around eventually, either that or she'll do herself out of any further contact with us. I'm not going to put up with her histrionics for much longer."

"I can't do that to you Jac" admonished the tom. "I can't split your family up. She's your mum and if I can't get her blessing I'll just have to work harder at it and we can't do anything else until I can."

"You let me worry about Tease, kids" said Jerrie. "I'll bring her around. She'll accept the relationship soon. I know it."

Nobody seemed to know what to say about after that and the group simply finished their drinks in silence before making their way to the gate for their connecting flight to Anchorage.

…

"Where tha bloody hell is she?" worried Jerrie.

The groups flight to Alaska had been called for boarding, ten minutes ago and nearly all the passengers had alighted the plane, however there was still no sign of the wayward queen, and Jerrie who'd waited at the gate with Toby while the rest of the group hopped on was getting frantic.

"Sir? I'll have to ask you to board the aircraft please." A flight attendant approached the two cats.

"We can't yet. My, um, wife still hasn't turned up and she's traveling with us." Jerrie replied.

"Sir. According to our manifest, you and your friend are the last passengers to board" came the response.

"What? Did she slip on without us seeing her?" Jerrie said.

Toby stepped in. "Can you please check to make sure that R. Teaser has boarded the aircraft?"

The attendant ran through her customer printout. "Teaser, Teaser… Ah here it is. No, R. Teaser is marked down as a late cancellation."

"Cancellation?" Toby asked, Jerrie just turned pale, "but she is supposed to be traveling through to Anchorage with us."

"One second please sir." The attendant cross referenced the cancellation on the counter computer. "She cancelled her flight, two hours ago and there is a note attached to the file. Um. It says 'Please inform the Jellicle party that Mrs Teaser may be rejoining them on a later flight in a couple of days.' It also says to ensure your cell phone is on and she will let you know of her travel plans.' That's all we have sir. Now I'll have to ask you to either board the plane or stay here as we do need to depart."

Toby dragged the worried and protesting cat onto the aircraft and they departed Los Angeles for Anchorage, leaving behind one of the mainstays of their existence. As they flew on to their next destination the group couldn't help but wonder. "What is Rumpleteaser doing?"

…

Rumpleteaser at that moment was watching the plane carrying her friends and relatives soar off into the distance. She'd been there at the gate to watch the scene her mate was making and nearly went to him at the last moment to say it was all a tragic misunderstanding, but she knew that she needed a break. The last few weeks had been stressful to say the least. First the loss of the kittens, then the death of her kittenhood friend Victoria, and the discovery of her daughter and tomfriend in bed together, followed by a subsequent proposal. Now she'd been castigated by the entire group for what they saw as irrational fears over the choices her daughter was making. Oh she knew deep down that Twitch was probably the best thing that had ever happened to Jacaranda but she just couldn't bring herself to let her daughter go. At the argument over the bags, Teaser had come to a decision. She needed to talk this over with someone who could understand. She needed to go home and talk to her mother, surely Demeter could understand and know what to do.

Decision made, Teaser made her way to the British Airways desk and booked a seat on the next available flight to Heathrow. As she settled into her seat for the long flight she couldn't help but feel that somehow she was doing the wrong thing, but at least she'd remembered to message Toby to say she would contact them in a few days time, once she had her head on straight.

…

Up in Anchorage the aircraft containing the rest of the group was landing on the icy runway. As the door was opened the group was give a rude wakeup call as to the state of the area. They thought that LA was cold but nothing quite prepared them for that frigid chill that permeated the skybridge to the terminal. Even Jericho and Olive were unprepared for the cold as they would normally be insulated by their own fur to the chill.

So the first stop that the group made after picking up their bags was to the clothing store on the airport concourse where they bought enough cold weather clothing to get them through their trip. While the guys were waiting outside the fashion store, a worried tomcat was wearing out the battery on the groups cell phone. Toby had received the message from Teaser as soon as he'd gotten inside the airport and Jerrie had wasted no time calling the number left in the caller id back. Time and time again he'd called in and all he had for his efforts were a pile of diversions to voicemail.

As the girls finally left the shop loaded down with bags, which were quickly handed over to the males in the group, Jerrie finally gave up with the realisation that he would have to wait for his mate to call him, whether he liked it or not.

Now kitted out in clothing better suited to the Alaskan winter, the group made their way out to the pre-booked transport for the ride out to Eagle Point a few miles out of town. The Huskies had organised a motel and conference centre out there for the use of the visit and while there were some larger and more well equipped facilities in the city, the seclusion was of greater value. They made it finally to the motel and were greeted within by a blazing fire in the central hall, gladly shedding layers as they gathered around the warmth, they were welcomed by Namihira, Skye and Jericho's mate Niagra.

Jericho immediately noticed that something was amiss with his mate though. He couldn't quite put his finger on it for a moment and then it dawned on him as he counted the days up in his head.

"You've had the puppies?" he cried to his mate.

"Just last week and just the one. She's beautiful and pure snow white, just like Skye." Niagra replied with a smile. "I left her asleep up in the room. I'd forgotten how much energy a young puppy has."

"Can I see her? What's her name? How did the birth go, I'm so very sorry I missed it but I couldn't get here any sooner."

"Of course you can see her, she's your daughter after all and she'll need to know her daddy. Don't worry about not being here, I don't blame you, even though I had a few choice bones to pick with the great pack leader for sending you away in the first place. I had Skye and my mother here together with half the pack in the end, so I couldn't have been in better paws. I decided that I wouldn't name her, I did up a list that I like and I thought that I'd get you to pick a name from it. I'll go get it while everyone warms up. I think it's time our daughter had a name."

Niagra dashed off and returned a short time later carrying a tiny puppy in her arms and handed both the puppy and a sheet of paper to Jericho where he was sitting in front of the fire. The pollicle gazed down in wrapt contemplation of his firstborn daughter, marvelling at her delicate features and pure white coat. He was fascinated by her dainty paws and beautiful snout. Dragging his eyes from her, he began to peruse the list that Niagra had handed him. About halfway down a name jumped out. He showed his selection to his mate who nodded in agreement.

He stood and cleared his throat. "Everyone. I'd like you to meet my daughter, named in tribute to one who was so very dear to us and whose life was tragically cut short. I give you Elizabeth."

…

**Well I think that's a good place for a break. Next chapter we'll find out what happened to Teaser.**

**Please read and review even if it's one line or word. Your writers live and die by what they get told by you, their readers.**

**Thanks.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Journeys Chap 19**

…

**Thankyou Jelliclegirl your review meant a great deal to me.**

…

The flight back to England had been fairly uneventful so far, except for the constant attention from the stewardess. Teaser had broken down shortly after they got in the air and the sympathetic shoulder of the young attendant had drawn out the entire story, Teaser had only barely been able to hold off blurting out the details of the Jellicle, biting her tongue at the last second. The abrupt end to the upset passengers' story was not lost on the stewardess and an unusual mothering instinct had come to the fore and she'd tried to draw the unspoken words out of Teaser to no avail.

"I shouldn't be burdening you with all this. You're nearly young enough to be my daughter. How old are you anyway? Nineteen? Twenty?"

"23 actually but that's ok. Age isn't everything and it's not the first time a passenger has opened up to a staff member on long haul flights." The attendant giggled lightly, "at least you're not crying on my shoulder one minute and then copping a feel the next like some of the guys do."

Midway across the Atlantic the queen began to experience a disjointed feeling, as if she was separating from her body. With a start she realised what was happening. In her turmoil she'd left it too long between transformations and she was about to undergo the change in the middle of the crowded business class section of the aircraft. She fumbled with the clasp on the seatbelt and began to panic as it refused to open. It finally clicked and the petrified queen made a beeline for the toilet, followed closely by the worried flight attendants, concerned over her sudden behaviour. Teaser locked the door and rested her head against the mirror in relief. She began to remove her jacket in preparation for spending the next hour as a hybrid when the lock on the door clicked open.

"Rumple? Are you ok in there?" It was the sympathetic flight attendant.

"Yes, yes I just need some time alone, please Bell" replied the stricken queen. She didn't have much time, she could feel the change forcing it's way closer and closer to the surface.

"I just need to have a quick check dear, to make sure you're not going to hurt yourself or do anything else" Bell responded.

Teaser looked hurriedly in the mirror. The change hadn't started yet but she knew if wouldn't be long and once it started there was no way known that she'd be able to stop. "OK, but please just make it quick."

The door opened slightly and Bell, the attendant that had befriended Teaser, peered into the restroom. She stuck her head in an had a quick around the cubicle and then at the occupant, taking in the buttons that Teaser had quickly undone on her pants to give herself a cover story for the rush to the loo. "Oh sorry dear. When you ran off we thought…"

"Well I didn't. Now can I have a bit of privacy please. I can't hold on much longer and this is going to take a while." Replied Teaser bluntly.

"Of course. My apologies once again." Bells blushing face withdrew and Teaser relocked the door, just in time as her skin began to glow.

Just over an hour, and several enquiries by Bell though the door, Teaser emerged from the toilet, "Sorry about that, I think everything that happened has messed me up a little" she murmured to Bell as she made her way back to her seat. "I think I'll just try and get some sleep."

"Ok. Just hit the call button if you need anything."

"I will." Teaser made her way back to her seat and reclining it tried to fall asleep. Tried and failed.

Lying there with the immediate crisis over and done with, the situation that she'd gotten herself into with her group kept going around in her head. She knew that she was being irrational, but she just couldn't help it. She alternately felt that she'd betrayed her family and then her brain swung a 180 and convinced her that it was her that had been betrayed and then swinging back again. It was a vicious circle that in the end only had one result; the poor queen was still awake as the captain landed at Heathrow. She was a zombie walking as she disembarked to the dreary London weather, too numb to even relish the feeling of coming home. She made her way down to the carousels, more through good luck and the crush of the crowd than by intention, and waited for her bag to arrive.

Bell meanwhile had finished her duties on board the aircraft and together with the pilots and other staff were all heading out when she spotted a forlorn figure standing in the baggage area watching a lone piece of luggage circling the conveyer belt. "I'll catch up with you all later guys. I think I see someone who needs a friend" she said to her group.

"Mrs Teaser?" she called softly. "Rumple? Are you there dear?"

Teaser hearing a voice calling her name turned her head towards the sound in a daze. "Wha?"

"Oh my. Come on luv. I can't leave you standing here." Bell said, very concerned over the state of the passenger that she'd somehow come to care about during the flight. "Is this your bag?"

Teaser nodded and Bell swung it up on her shoulder, then guided the exhausted queen to the exit.

"How are you getting home?" Bell asked.

"I, um, I dunno" slurred Teaser. "Undagr'nd I gess."

"The way you are? Not a hope. Where are you headed to. We've got a minivan and we'll drop you off." Bell pulled Teaser to where the rest of the flight crew were waiting near the hire cars in the parking lot.

The cold air had shocked a little alertness into the queen. "I'm headed to the salvage yard my parents run. It's out near Victoria Grove."

"Oh. I know that area. I lived nearby before I left home for something a bit more glamorous than waiting tables in the Macca's at the shops." Bell said. "You just rest your head for a bit and we'll have you home in a jiffy."

Tease gave up to the inevitable and let the bubbly, nobody deserves to be that full of energy after a flight like that, stewardess drag her into the van. Shortly after they were racing their way along the motorways back towards the junkyard, and home.

…

After an hour or so in the van the buildings began to look familiar and Teaser started giving directions to the woman driving the van, eventually pulling up outside the junkyard gates.

She jumped out with her bag and gave Bell a large hug, promising to let her know how it all turned out. Still feeling exhausted she made her way through the gates and began to walk to the central clearing to find her mum, Demeter. It was a sign of her utter exhaustion that she didn't notice the difference at first, but as she progressed deeper into the yard she began to see signs of things that simply didn't belong.

It was small things at first. Some garbage that had been strewn on the normally fastidiously clean paths or a pile of rubbish that had been shifted and partially knocked down. Then she noticed the silence. The junkyard had always been quiet, but there'd also always been an underlying noise of community. Today there was nothing. Dropping her pack off to the side of the path and concealing it under an old couch, she made her way now with more caution. Something was definitely wrong.

As she entered the central clearing she was taken aback by what she saw. Den's had been ripped apart and there was obvious signs of fighting all around the clearing. It was strange though, the damage was too great, as if the protagonists towered above the normal size of the Jellicles.

Teaser made her way to where her parents den lay, ripped open to the elements. There was no sign of Munk or Dem, but she could tell that the damage was recent, only in the last day or two, from the dampness of the contents strewn across the small dwelling. There was the remnants of a strange odour in the air that Tease had never encountered before but that she knew wasn't a part of the junkyard. She went back to pawing though her parents den to try to gain some sort of insight into what had happened here. So engrossed in her search for clues to the fate of her family, that Teaser failed to notice the shadowy figures converging on her from behind. The first indication that she wasn't alone, was the light, almost gentle pressure on her spine. It was quickly followed by a small electrical whine and then blackness.

She came to as she was roughly thrown to the wooden floor in a room. Fighting her instinctive reaction to the casual brutality of her captors to curl up and sob she, instead, just let herself go limp, pretending to still be unconscious. She lay there as the people, she'd counted two sets of footsteps, stood there and then turned to leave the room, shutting the door behind themselves.

Hearing the door close, Teaser cracked one eyelid and did a quick scan of the room for any company. Seeing nobody she opened the other eye and looked around quickly for any camera's or spies. Relieved that there was nothing she tried to gather her bearings and work out where her captors had taken her. Spying a small dirty window along one wall, the queen got to her feet and cautiously made her way over to it. Teaser used the end of her sleeve to rub a small semi clear spot on the lower corner and peered out to try and ascertain where they were. A delighted smile graced her face as she gazed out upon the junkyard. They were in the caretakers hut, a small two room wooden hut that had been built as a façade for when the council came by. It wasn't used and was badly constructed out of scrap timber that the Jellicles had found.

Happy that she now knew where she way, Teaser now wanted to know what they wanted to do with her. Making her way over to the rooms door she put her ear up against the crack where the door met the wall and listened.

"We caught another one sir" said a deep husky sounding voice.

"She was looking through the debris." A second much higher pitched person voice was heard. "She wasn't one of the ones that that black bastard got out though."

"Hmm. Maybe she was one of the ones we tracked here from Australia. They might be coming back." This was a slightly tinny but highly cultured voice. "One of you go back out and set up some more gas charges, just in case. Then I want you to bring this one to the compound. We'll interrogate her and then put her in with the others."

"Others?" Teaser thought. "Then the Jellicles are alive, and some are on the run." She bent back to listen to the conversation in the next room.

It appeared that the discussion had ceased and the outer door was heard to open and close as one of her captors went off to set up some sort of gas charge. Teaser spent her time formulating a plan to get out of the hut. The window was way too small, the walls and roof were too thick and tunnelling was definitely out. That left only one option and it was one that Teaser was loathe taking. Disrobing and placing her clothes in a corner, Teaser began to transform.

Out in the other room a lone thickset swarthy man was sitting at a table playing games on a laptop, when his partner walked in. "The boss will have your balls if he catches you playing games on that thing."

"Fuck him. What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

The smaller man just laughed. "Well don't expect me to say shit." He paused in thought for a second, "have you been in there yet to tie her up? That tazer shock won't last forever."

The man at the computer got up. "Good point. It'll be pretty easy when she's out of it and who knows. I might even get a little groping in as well."

"Sick bastard" was the response.

"Hey. Everyone has their kink, and whatever else this bitch is her body is smoking."

"Fine just don't take all night about it."

The big man made his way over and unlocked the door. He turned his head back to his partner by the exit door as he opened the way into Teasers cell and death entered the room.

The large captor didn't even get the chance to realise that their prisoner was loose as Teaser swept through under his arms. With nearly surgical precision, Teaser swung a paw and tore out the man's throat, on the backswing she quite tenderly plucked his eyes from his sockets casting them to the floor.

Never pausing in her assault she leapt to the table the other human was sitting at and kicked the small man in the head. Reaching down she took the man's head in her hands and snapped his neck.

It was over. The fight was short brutal and entirely one sided, the humans never even knew what hit them. Teaser made her way over to the computer sitting on the desk and closed down the game that the man was playing. She changed from the human sized hybrid form she'd used back to a pure human and pushed the small corpse off the seat. She began to sit before abruptly changing her mind and heading back to the other room to put on her clothes. Coming back into the outer room she looked around and considered her next options.

This was obviously much larger than just the two men she'd killed, and a good deal of the information she needed was probably on the computer. However if she just up and left then whoever had her friends and family would probably move them and she'd never be able to find them after that. She needed some sort of cover for the events in the room. Needing time to think she went to go and get her backpack. Digging her bag out from under the old couch, Teaser spotted something that gave her an idea. Taking her bag and her find back to the hut she set about preparing.

First up she set the old trashed laptop that she'd just found on the desk and packed the men's computer into her bag. Next she took the gas lantern sitting on the desk and set it on its side on a pile of papers on the floor. After this she arranged the bodies, one lying on the cot in the corner and the other she put back on the chair, slumped over the table. Finally she took the bottles of whiskey that were on a shelf near the window and poured them around the room and placed the bottles on the floor near the table and cot. As she exited, Teaser lit a small bundle of paper she still had in her hands with a lighter she'd taken off one of the corpses and threw them both onto the paper under the lantern. Waiting only long enough to ensure the fire caught hold, Teaser headed back to the main clearing. She was standing there when a low 'whompf' was heard coming from the area of thick smoke that marked the former caretakers hut. "That'd be the gas bottle going up then" she thought.

She thought back to the conversation she'd overheard. Some of the Jellicles had gotten away and she needed to work out where they'd go. Running ideas of their location through her head, she discarded them almost as quickly as they popped up. One in particular she disregarded and then caught herself and reconsidered.

"It'd be easy to defend. It's safe and dry. There's heaps of food there and nobody will go anywhere near the place. It'd be perfect but would they use it?"

With no other real option in mind Teaser decided it was a good place to start and at the least it was somewhere she could hole up and rest, the adrenaline that had sustained her since entering the yard was finally starting to wear off and her fatigue was coming back with a vengeance.

With one last look in the direction of the hut, flames were now towering about 40 feet into the air as the dry wood burned, Tease shrugged her backpack onto her shoulders and headed off through a side gate.

…

About a half hour later the now thoroughly exhausted queen approached her destination. It was a dirty and dingy part of town. Old commercial properties ringed the area but she only had one place in mind. She hadn't seen it for nearly 20 years, since the events of a certain Jellicle ball all that time ago. She rounded a corner and there it was.

More windows were broken but the walls still stood and the roof was still sound.

This was it. The Place.

Macavities Lair.

She pushed the door open and entered the dark warehouse. "Is anyone here?" she called. "It's Rumpleteaser."

Her name echoed in the silence before dying away.

There was nothing. Not a whisper. Dejected the exhausted queen slumped onto an old crate and swung her pack down on the floor. She'd sleep and try again later.

She was about to get undressed to change when a small sound caught her ear. Immediately on alert she whipped her head in the direction of the noise and after straining for several seconds, began to make out the shine of light on someone's eyes.

"Teaser?" came a timid call.

"Yes. Yes it's me." She responded.

"Thank Bast." Out of the shadows between some towering crates slunk the figure of Electra. "Come with me I'll take you to the others."

"Others? How many got out?"

"Not many. Just me, my daughter, Admentus, Tumble, Jemima, Demeter and Jet who we all have to thank for our lives. If it wasn't for him getting us all out we'd have all been caught like the rest. I also know that Old D is safe. He was off on a visit and wasn't anywhere near the yard when the attack happened, we've had word that he's ok." Electra replied.

"Caught? So they're not dead then?"

"Not that we know of. Come on. Dem is running the show here and she'll explain it all to you when we get into the basement." With that Electra turned and led Rumpleteaser off into the darkness. The older cat couldn't help but think that their lives and that of the world in general would never be the same again.

…

**Well that's the end of this chapter. I hope you all enjoy the direction in which I'm taking it.**

**How do you think the rest of the tribes are going to take this?**

**Who are theses attackers?**

**More will be revealed in the next chapter.**

**Please leave me a review with your thoughts.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Journeys chapter 20**

…

**All will be revealed Faded Book and thank you for your review.**

**Two updates in two days? I don't know what's gotten into me must be the flu that's got it claws in me.**

…

Electra led teaser down between the towering stacks of pallets and crates to a low door in the side wall of the warehouse. Teaser remembered it well, it led down to the dungeons and Macavities play room, Teaser and Jerrie had rescued numerous cats from these rooms in their heyday but hadn't been there since the death of the Jellicle nemesis all those years ago. It was a period of their lives that the Jellicle tribe preferred to forget.

She eased the door open and peered into the darkness beyond. For some reason it seemed more foreboding than it ever had before, even with the Napoleon of Crime running the place. Electra led her down the gloomy staircase and along the cell lined hallway to a steel door. As she reached for the knob she shuddered, remembering the horrors that she'd witnessed in the chamber behind this portal. She turned the handle and closing her eyes, entered the room.

"Teaser?" she heard. "You can open your eyes honey."

The tired queen cracked her eyelids and looked around the room in wonder. Gone were the rusting hooks and pinchers, gone also were the tables that the rooms' victims had been strapped down on. The braziers that she remembered were still there and blazing away brightly adding light and warmth to the space. Blankets and rugs adorned nearly every other empty surface and lounging upon them was her family and friends. Her mother and sister had gotten to their feet and were approaching her with arms outstretched. It was an incongruous sight, a human being embraced around the legs by two hybrids less than half her size, the participants however didn't care, they all simply relished being in the company of the people they loved.

After the three had cried themselves out, and Teaser had reverted to her hybrid form, the older queen got down to business. "What in the Everlasting Cats name are you doing here Teaser?" Demeter asked, "And where are the others?"

The rest of the Jellicles in the room looked up at this, up until now they'd given the family as much privacy as you could in a single small room, but this question was one that they all wanted an answer to.

Rumpleteaser looked at her feet in embarrassment, it felt like she'd jumped back 30 years and was in trouble for doing something overwhelmingly stupid. "I, We… We had a fight. It was over something stupid, but I couldn't let go and I let it get the better of me. So, I left. At the Los Angeles airport I left the group and flew here while they flew to the pollicles home. I didn't know about any of this - Teaser gestured around the room - until I reached the yard and found it deserted. I just needed to come home and talk, talk to you and Addy and Etcy…" At this last statement she looked over at the older grey tom, apologies for his loss in her eyes.

"S'ok Tease" said her friend. "I trust in the Everlasting Cat that she's alive."

"She is" Teaser revealed to the group. "At least that's the impression I got from the humans who took her and the rest."

The entire group leapt to their feet and crowded around her, all asking questions about their friends and families and how she knew what she did. The calico queen, feeling overwhelmed, cowered back behind her mother.

"Hold up everyone. Give her some room." Jet had pushed his way to the front and had turned on the group, holding his arms outstretched and screening the two queens from the rest. "Back, back." He ushered them away until they'd calmed down and all looked at the hiding queen.

Dem turned to Teaser, seeing in her daughters entire being how worn she was, "Can you tell us anything, love?"

Teaser related her story in a monotone. "I got dropped off at the yard by some people I met on the plane. I didn't notice anything at first until I was about halfway in. I hid my bag and kept going. I got to the clearing and saw the damage and nobody was around. I was looking through your den when I got knocked out by someone. When I came to, I was in the old caretakers hut near the gates and I could hear the humans in the other room. They were talking to someone else, over their computer I think like when we talked to you from Sydney, and they talked about how some of you had escaped because of 'that black bastard' which I take it was Jet." The black tom preened a little and looked pleased with himself.

Teaser continued, "They talked about gas bombs or something and setting more to get 'the ones they tracked from Australia.' After that one of them was coming back to the room to tie me up and have me join the other captives, I decided to fight back and when he opened the door I killed them both." At this point Jemima blanched a little, she was still after all these years such a gentle and caring soul. "I stole their computer and set up a fire to cover my tracks and then left. I worked out where you might go and I made my way here. If I knew that you were one that wasn't caught mum I never would have considered this to place be an option."

"I've made my peace with the past love. I won't say this place doesn't bring back memories but I won't let them rule my life anymore. I have Kamira to thank for that." Demeter reassured her daughter.

"Kam?" Teaser was shocked. Though she'd gotten to know Kamira pretty well on their trip, she never would have thought that she'd be the one to help Demeter get past the trauma of all those years ago.

"Yes. She's got her own history with Macavity and we helped each other deal. Let's just leave it at that please."

Jet interrupted, "Um. You mentioned a computer. Did you bring it with you?"

He immediately jumped for Teasers pack after she indicated it was there.

Dragging it out the black cat transformed into his human form and powered it up.

Wrapping a blanket that had been thrown at him by Electra with the admonishment of "Cover yourself" he set to retrieving anything he could from the machine.

Teaser just turned back to her mother. "As much as I want to know what happened here I need to sleep." Dem simply gestured at the corner that she'd been lying as Teaser entered the room and the calico sank down gratefully. She was asleep before her head hit the ground, finally feeling safe and loved for the first time in days.

…

Teaser woke briefly to take care of the necessary and curled up once more with the tribe members. They'd all slept together in a large ball, none of them willing to forgo the reassurance of a friend in their sleep. After nearly 18 hours of sleep the calico queen woke to the excited whoop of Jet. He'd been working his way through the computer and had found out who had raided the yard and where they operated from.

"I don't have a name for them, but they all use this weird ankh type symbol. They have a building out near the airport, I have the address but that's about it." The black cat passed on.

"Alright then. I'll take Addy and Tumble. Jet can stay here with mum, Jem and Electa and we'll go and have a look." Teaser decided.

Demeter just looked at her daughter. "Ok Rumpleteaser. We'll do it your way. Just be careful would you."

Teaser grinned, this was starting to bring back memories together with the rush she used to get from her spying forays years ago. She knew she was a little rusty but that she hadn't lost all her old skills. "We'll be ok. We'll go in as cats and have a sniff around. This is pure and simply a recon mission. Even if we get the chance we're not bringing anyone home unless we can get them all."

After a few more moments of preparation the three took their cat forms and headed out.

The rest of the cats pottered around whilst the three were gone, playing with Chamolie and biding their time. Jet continued to dig through the files on the computer and had managed to find out how they'd been discovered and what had led this group to the junkyard. He'd shown the file to Demeter and she just shook her head. "He'll be crushed that he's caused this. I know it wasn't his fault but it won't matter. He'll take it out on himself."

The hours passed by slowly, and finally the group heard the signs of the scouts returning.

"Are you all right? What did you see" asked Electra as they all entered the room.

"Nice to see you too Leccy" Quipped Tumble.

"It was deserted" said Teaser. "We checked it out pretty closely before we went in, but whoever was there was already gone, and gone in a hurry. There were a few documents left behind and we know that our friends seem ok. Or at least that they're being fed." The calico held out a sheet of paper she'd found. It was a receipt from a local store detailing the normal junkfood purchase that you'd expect a transient worker to buy, but at the end was a long list of tins of cat food.

The group heaved a sigh of relief at this sight. It wasn't confirmation but it was better than nothing.

"We've found something too" Jet said and motioned towards the computer. "We know how this group tracked us down."

"What? How?"

"Brace yourself. It was because of Twitch." Dem revealed.

"I KNEW IT!" thundered Teaser. "I knew that tom was no good."

"It was because of Twitch, but it wasn't his fault. He had no control over the leak of the information. In fact he did everything he could to restrict it. We all thought that when he was revealed in Sydney that it'd blown over as a hoax. Apparently this group took it seriously for some reason. We know that Twitch didn't have any ID on him at the time but the police found the phone number in his wallet. They didn't get around to using it because Toby turned up, but it still ended up on the file that the Sydney police raised. Somehow these guys got their hands on the file and tracked the phone number back to the junkyard. We had a few silent calls a few nights ago and we thought they were just pranks until we read this file. It must've been these guys tracing us then."

Teaser sat there fuming at the start of Jet's recital, however as he went on she began to see that it really wasn't the fault of Twitch. She realised that it was time to let them all know why she left the travelling group.

"I think it's time I let you know what happened on the trip and why I left."

…

"So that's the story. I just wanted to come home and talk to mum and get my head straight, but now we've run into this mess."

"We need Old D here." Demeter stated after a moment of thought, "Jem. You know where he was going don't you?"

"Yes mum."

"Good. I need you to go and get Old Deuteronomy. Tell him that we think this is the trial that was revealed by the Everlasting Cat back at the start of all this. Get him here so we can work out what to do next."

The younger queen nodded and ran out the door to look for her grandfather and bring him back to the safety of the basement so they could plan their next moves.

In the meantime Jet relayed the events of the raid. "It was midnight and we were just doing a sentry handover between Admentus and myself, when we heard a commotion from down near the front gates. Addy went to check it out and I went to wake mum, dad and grandma. Dad ran off to help with whatever was going on while I was told to wait at the clearing. Admentus came barrelling back into the clearing a few minutes later yelling as us to run. It was then that we saw the humans. They were throwing around these things that let out a white mist, kinda thick like a fog, and whoever breathed it in, collapsed. I ran into Electra's den and got her and Chamo out and headed for the side gate when I saw one of the things land near mum and grandma. It got them and Admentus and probably would have gotten me too if I didn't run. A few minutes later the humans came into the clearing and started waving these long stick things around and checking a box on their belts. They must have liked what they saw because after a minute or so they took off the mask things they were wearing. The first thing they did was grab anyone that had collapsed in the open and dragged them into a pile and then started digging through the junk, breaking into the dens. I'd had enough so I went up a trail and changed to a large hybrid form and crept back down. While the men were distracted I ran into the clearing and grabbed as many as I could and legged it. I didn't even know who I had in my arms, it ended up being mum, grandma, Tumble and Admentus. I met up with Electra and her daughter at the gate and we all went and spent the night in a dumpster. Once the others woke up we decided to come here.

A while later Jemima re-entered trailing the large figure of Old D behind her. The cats clustered around the patriarch, instinctively seeking his approval and comfort, feeling the love and awe that he naturally inspired.

"Now, now my children. What have you found? Young Jemima here was most insistent that you'd discovered something important." Old D asked.

Demeter relayed the information that they'd discovered about the raiders and why Teaser had split from her group and returned to London.

"Well then I definitely agree with you" agreed the old Jellicle leader. "This must be the trial that the Everlasting Cat told us about, but if that is the case then we need the aid of the other tribes. I will contact the Eagles and Dolphins, however I think that the Pollicles deserve a personal representative to go and bring them up to speed. I believe that that representative should be you Rumpleteaser. You have unfinished business there which needs to be concluded. That and nobody else has any travel documents."

"I don't know if I can face them. I mean I left without a word and haven't so much as sent a text despite saying that I would." The calico queen replied.

"Well then my dear. Best you get onto a phone and send them a message. Make it short but let them know you're coming back." The old cat turned to Jet. "Organise some flights back to Anchorage please my boy as soon as possible."

And with that Teasers fate was sealed.

…

Back in Alaska the relaying of the transformation spell was going well and the cats were also busy making fast friends with the various pollicles that they'd met. Helped along a great deal by the treatment that they'd given Aristotle, and the obvious adoration of the newborn Elizabeth.

They were understandably concerned about the prolonged absence of Rumpleteaser but knew that as soon as she'd worked out her problems, that she'd be rejoining them.

A week after their arrival they finally got word from their friend. It was a three line text.

"Arriving Tomorrow 1610 flight from New York. Bring gravest news possible. Need the pollicle elders."

The group were mystified by the simple text. What the hell did it mean?

…

**Well that's a good place to stop I think.**

**As always please review and let my know if you like it.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Journeys Chapter 21.**

**I'm sorry that it's taken so long to write up the next chapter of this story. I've had a huge amount on my plate lately and have honestly been too buggered to muster the brainpower to write.**

**I'd like to thank Emily for giving into my badgering and letting me know what she thought of the latest chapters, btw if you haven't already. Check out her story on this site. "The Yellow Eye's of the Sickened Cat." It is brilliant.**

**I'd also like to throw out my continued thanks to Faded Book and MsCloverJellicle for their continued support.**

**Now then, on with the story, if I can remember how to write…**

…

Munkunstrap groggily opened his, bleary bloodshot eyes slightly. Peering through the barely open slits he tried to take in his surroundings. All he could make out was the bright white overhead lights in a white ceiling. He attempted to move his head, when he made a discovery. He was tied down and restrained. As his faculties began to return, he began to feel areas of his fur that didn't feel normal. Small spots on his head and chest had been shaved, and something had been stuck to the bare areas.

He began to arch his back to try to slip his head out of its restraint when part of the situation revealed itself. A line of sharp spikes began to press themselves into his neck, flinching back and slightly to one side he discovered even more of the spines.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. I don't want to have to repair yet another one of you freaks" came a neutral, even bored voice from one side of the hard surface that he was held upon. "Please don't try to change forms as the results could be unpleasant, and quite messy."

A figure dressed in a dark jacket and shirt hove into the Jellicle protectors limited view. Barely able to make out the features of his captor due to the background light, one thing drew Munks attention like a lodestone. It was a golden torc hanging around the man's neck, embossed with a strange Egyptian looking ankh that Munk had never seen before.

"What?" croaked the tom, who cleared his dry throat before trying again. "What do you want from me? Where are my friends? What have you done with them?"

"Oh. Your friends are quite allright, in the most part anyway, and are waiting for you back downstairs. You can join them as soon as we've had a little chat."

"What do you want to know? I can't think of anything that you'd be after from us?"

"Well then. I guess we'll find out for ourselves in time." With that the human reached across the face of the restrained tomcat and then pulled his arm back. Held in his hand was a large syringe filled with an evil looking yellow liquid. Waggling it in front of the unfortunate cats gaze, he continued. "Yes I think we'll find out everything I want to know…"

…

The cold slapped the tired and nervous queen in the face as she exited the aircraft. They'd had to circle for 2 hours as the airport cleaned up after an arctic storm had closed the runways and the extra time had just heightened her feelings of trepidation.

Dragging her feet in the airbridge, she allowed the few other passengers to rush past her into the warmth of the terminal, until she could no longer hide from the reunion that she knew was coming. Finally passing through the double doors into the terminal she lifted her gaze to try to find the accusing eye's of her former friends, instead there was only a single solitary familiar figure there waiting for her. Anticipation dancing in his eyes her mate ran towards her and swept her into an embrace. "Don't you ever do that to me again" came the Australian accent of her mate. "Never leave me like that. I was so worried I'd lost you."

Rumpleteasers reply was lost in the clothing at the nape of Jerries neck. Pulling her face away she tried again. "I won't. I won't ever do that again." She burrowed herself into the chest of her mate and was squeezed until she was sure she heard her ribs creaking. The two cats stood there holding each other for what seemed like an age, simply basking in each others presence, before reluctantly letting go.

"Where are the others?" Teaser queried. "I thought I asked for the pollicle elders to meet me as well?"

"We, well that is me, didn't want you overwhelmed just as you returned so I kind of snuck out without them. Seeing as I was the only one who knew which flight you were coming in on, nobody else has shown up." Jerrie replied. "We can go and catch a taxi out to the hotel and everyone should be there."

"Damn. I needed to let them know about what happened, but I guess it can wait until we're in private. Probably best that way anyway." Teaser took her mates hand and began to drag him towards the exit.

"What about your bags?"

"I didn't bring anything apart from this backpack. I lost it all in the fire."

"Fire" wondered Jerrie to himself, "what the hell happened back at home?"

…

The green and orange four wheel drive pulled up in front of the Eagle Point resort and two figures rushed from the stopped taxi, and into the foyer.

Waiting for them were the disapproving stares of Toby, Dom and Namihira. "You!" Toby pointed a finger into Mungojerries chest "were supposed to wait for the rest of us, and you!" he turned to point the accusing finger at Rumpleteaser with a scowl creasing his features that rapidly changed into a mischievous grin, "welcome back! We missed you."

"Now get in out of the cold and out of those wet jackets." Admonished Namihira.

The two cats were led through the airlock like foyer where they were able to shed their snow covered jackets and proceed into the warmth of the hotel. "Sorry for the joke, Tease" apologised Dom. "I tried to talk him out of it, but he can be such a kitten sometimes."

"It's ok. I deserved all that and more, but is there somewhere we can all talk? I need to tell you all about what is going on." Teasers voice had begun to take on a certain amount of urgency. Now that she had arrived, the need to get the events at home out had asserted itself with a vengeance.

"Of course." Namihira responded and guided the group towards the conference room. "Who do you need my dear and I will send for them?"

"All of our group, together with any pollicle elders you may have here, and those that you trust to help out with making decisions" replied Tease.

Namihira sent for the required individuals and shortly after they began to file into the room.

First to arrive in a rush were the member of the group that had travelled the globe together. They crowded around their wayward compatriot, until they were herded into seats to await the arrival of the others. As the pollicles filed in Tease busied herself setting up a laptop computer that she'd pulled from her backpack and plugged it into a projector that had been provided.

Shortly Jericho closed the door and took a seat.

"Is this all that is coming?" Teaser asked. At Namihira's nod, she continued "then we may as well begin. There is no easy way to say this. A little over 10 days ago an unknown group of humans conducted a raid upon the Jellicle Junkyard and captured nearly all of the inhabitants."

The uproar began. The Jellicles began to shout out queries about their families and friends. The pollicles wanted to know how this all could happen and everyone wanted to know who could have done it.

Teaser tried to continue with the briefing to no avail, finally getting frustrated she fell back on a the tactic employed by her grandfather before the journey had begun. Pursing her lips, she let out a piercing whistle, which cut through the din like a hot knife through butter.

"Please everyone. Let me finish and I will tell you everything I know. Please leave any questions until after I have finished. As I was saying, an unknown group raided the junkyard and carried off nearly everyone. They used gas bombs and grenades and to our knowledge only caused the victims to lose consciousness. The cats that escaped were Electra and her daughter Chamolie and my nephew Jet. Jet managed to rescue my mother and sister, Demeter and Jemima, Admentus and also Tumblebrutus. I'm also glad to say that Old Dueteronomy was away from the yard at the time and has rejoined the remainder in hiding. I was also caught upon returning to the yard, but managed to free myself shortly afterwards and deal with my assailants. To hide any evidence of my escape I was forced to set a fire within the yard which has caused a large amount of damage to our home."

Teaser began to cycle through images from the computer which were projected onto the screen behind her. "In the process of my escape I also came into possession of a computer that belongs to this group. Within it we found the location of a safehouse, which we proceeded to scout. We found that this building had been vacated in a hurry but there was evidence that our friends are being fed and looked after somewhat. We discovered nothing that indicates that these people know we are onto them. No other usable information was discovered on the recovered laptop, but I have brought it along for your own people to have a look, with the exception of this symbol." Teaser brought up the Ankh on the screen. "We do not recognise it, but we are hoping that together we may be able to discover who these people are. I was told to return here with this information and Old D was going to endeavour to contact the eagles and dolphins to warn them to keep on their guard."

"Does anyone have any questions?"

Jericho raised his hand, "You said that this group seemed to have no idea that you were aware of them, yet you also said that you'd dealt with two assailants at the yard. How can you be sure that these men won't be able to contact their brethren?"

"They are dead. In the course of my escape, I killed them." Teaser deadpanned. Jericho nodded and resumed his seat.

Jerrie was the next to ask a question. "Where are the survivors hiding?"

"In the basement of **the ** warehouse. Not ideal, but it is safe and nobody would think of it."

Jerrie nodded thoughfully and sat back.

Next it was Christo. "How did these people find us? I thought the masking spell was nearly foolproof?"

This was the question that Teaser was dreading. She'd gotten over her feelings about her future son-in-law and thought that she knew how the next part of the story would be taken.

"I discovered years ago that the masking spell will not affect recordings or the effects of a highly disciplined mind. I can only envision that they used both of these in the planning and execution of the raid."

"Yes, but how did they even know we existed?" Chris asked.

Teaser looked down and then glanced over at Twitch. The look was not lost on the big tom. "It was that bloody hospital room, wasn't it?"

"I'm afraid it was" replied Teaser. "The police took the junkyard phone number out of your wallet, and it was put in the file. When Toby turned up nobody thought to remove it and the file and phone number were later stolen by someone, I think we all know who now. Dem and Jemima told me about some prank phone calls made to that number in the days leading up to the attack. We think that was how they knew to come to the junkyard. I'd just like to make it clear though, that what happened in Sydney, could have happened to any one of us. You did what you needed to do at the time and nobody could have forseen the repercussions."

"Thanks, but it doesn't really help much" came the response from the now dejected Tom. Jacaranda wrapped her arms around him and glanced at her mother with thanks in her eyes for the kind words.

Namihira had gathered towards the rear of the room with two of the truly ancient pollicle elders, they had their heads together whispering tightly, occasionally looking up at the symbol on the screen and consulting a large book that one had produced, before going back to their discussion.

The three pollicles broke off their discussion and Namihira approached the queen at the front of the room. "I have been talking to Virginia and Tolitana, who are our archivists, and we believe that we know who this symbol represents."

"Please go on." Teaser gestured for the Pollicle leader to take her place at the lectern and opened the tome that she'd brought to the front.

"Nearly four thousand years ago, in ancient Egypt there were humans who worshipped animal deities. They named these gods, Bast the cat goddess and Anubis the Jackal god. These two gods originally were beneficial and the religions existed in a kind of a symbiotic relationship. The Jellicles and the Pollicles were both considered to be avatars and the chosen of the two gods, the humans simply could not comprehend that the beings they worshipped were one and the same, just different aspects of the Great Pack Leader or Everlasting Cat. As time went by and we approached the time of the pharaohs a schism began to form between the two. A militant faction had taken control of the worship of Anubis and it shortly developed into open war between the two. This continued for over a hundred years and the end result was the complete defeat of the Anubis religion and devastation for that of Bast, from which they did not recover. It was during this conflict that the Jellicle and Pollicle tribes formed their own mistrust of each other and went their separate ways. One thing that both agreed on was to removed themselves from public sight and to let ourselves fall into obscurity and legend."

"Unknown to anyone, the worship of Anubis had survived and over time reformed into a cult that managed to spread its subtle influence into many areas of Europe over the next 3500 odd years. They went by many names and titles and were responsible for many things that benefited mankind over the millennia, however they were also responsible for a great many of the famous atrocities as well. Many of you may have heard of the Knights of the Temple, more commonly known as the Knight Templar. They were formed from this cult and went on to perform a great many noble and charitable acts. However the cult was also responsible for inflaming the crusades and causing the sack of Jeruselum in the first crusade where every inhabitant of that great city was put to the sword."

"The cult was also responsible for the betrayal of their fellows in the Templars. Their paws can be seen in the attribution of the symbol of Friday the Thirteenth, which was the day the Templar leaders were burned at the stake for witchcraft, of the black cat. They also led the inquisition which was responsible for the torture and execution of hundreds of women and cats throughout Europe."

"After the inquisition had been disbanded we lost track of the cult and believed that it had finally died the death it deserved. However somehow it has survived and has resources greater that we know. My friends. The sign that Rumpleteaser found in the computer can only be the ancient symbol of the Cult of Anubis." With that statement, Namihira turned her open book to the audience and there drawn on the ancient pages was a drawing that was next to identical to the image on the screen behind her.

…

**Well that's it for this chapter.**

**Please let me know what you think.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Journey's Chap 22**

**Quick thanks to Faded Book and also to Skitternimble who has warmed to my storytelling.**

…

"So what do we do now?" came the voice of Nix from the middle of the crowd. "Surely we need to get our friends back?" Murmurs of agreement came from the shocked assemblage.

Toby stepped up to the podium. "What we can't do I'm afraid is to go off half cocked. All we have to go off is a couple of hundred year old document, and an even older legend, no offence Namahira. We need more information before we can even attempt to form a plan of action."

"None taken" the Pollicle matriarch replied. "Toby is correct. We know next to nothing about these people or their group, but we can remedy that. Just let me have a quick talk with Toby and Dominica and we'll let you know what we are looking to do."

The aged pollicle motioned Dom to a quiet corner and ushered Toby over to join her. "I would like to offer my services in finding out what happened to your friends and family. I know it must be difficult and, I think you'll agree, you need this to be led by someone with a clear head."

"Thankyou" replied Toby gratefully, he'd been trying to distance himself from his worry over the Jellicles with little success. "I would appreciate that, but please don't lock us out completely, I still would like us to know what is going on."

"Don't worry I'll be keeping you in the loop and I do have a couple of friends that I can call upon to help us find out what is going on." Namahira confided. "We're a little more worldly than you Jellicles are."

"Not hard considering that we've been hiding for the last couple of thousand years, you do something that long and it kind of becomes ingrained," quipped Dom. "Though at least now we have an idea of why."

"Let's let everyone know, and then we can let you go off and start up whatever you need to do Namahira" said Toby, turning back to the lecturn.

"Can I get everyones attention please?" The Jellicle called. Once everyone settled down, he continued. "Namahira offered, and I have accepted, to take the lead on the investigation." He held up his paws to stem the quiet grumbles from the cats. "At the moment I can't think straight and have no idea into what to do next. Luckily for us, Namahira can and does and I've just been informed that she already has a few contacts in mind to help us find them. I need everyone here to give the Pollicles their full co-operation in these matters. Thank you." With that Toby passed the floor to Namahira.

"Thank you Toby. As he has told you. I have a few friends out there and I will be leaving to contact them shortly. Over the next couple of days I will be sending various individuals and small groups out. Please do exactly as I say when I do. The decisions that we make here today will have consequences that may change our very existence." Namahira turned to Kamira. "My dear. Can you please get onto your computer and call home. I need to speak to Old Deuteronomy."

Kam nodded and headed off.

"Jericho?" the pollicle looked over from where he was talking to his mate. "Can you please find out where Caesar is at the moment and if his owner is home."

Jericho showed his shock at the question. "You're not planning what I think you are? Are you?"

"Yes actually, I am. Please get on with it my boy."

"Rumpleteaser, I'm sorry to cut your reconciliation short but I need you to go and talk to someone. I wouldn't ask it but you're the closest thing we have to an expert and your first hand knowledge will be invaluable. I'm afraid you have another plane journey coming." Namahira looked around the room considering, "I'll send Virginia with you and…"

"And me" interrupted Jerrie. "I made her a promise that I'd never let her go again and I mean to keep that promise."

"Very well Mungojerrie. Now go and get some rest. I will need to organise a few details before we send you on your way."

"The rest of you elders! I need you to contact your packs and teams, get every runner, guide and shaman here as quickly as you can. I feel it in my bones that we are going to need them." The Pollicle Leader announced.

One of the elders spoke up, "But that goes against everything we know. Most of us are right in the final stages of our training for this year's competitions. If we break these traditions then the humans will know something's up."

"I'm sorry my dear but this takes precedence. We will just have to deal with any repercussions later. Now please, off you go and start to call your packs. Now if you would excuse me I need to go and make some calls myself."

…

The next few days were a flurry of activity as pollicles began to arrive, some in ones and twos but others in full teams or packs of twenty to thirty dogs at a time. And they were all shapes and sizes, Toby and the other Jellicles had gotten used to the familiar sight of the huskies, but these new dogs ranged from small fox terriers up to the occasional Great Dane and nearly everything in between. It wasn't unusual to come into a room and find a Boxer deep in conversation with an Alsation or Beagle about the vagaries of law enforcement or a poodle swapping tips with a spitz on grooming and fur care.

When Nix queried Skye over this dispersion of the pollicle abilities amongst the breeds she was told that "Pollicles have been out in the world forever. As dogs have changed and been bred over the centuries we have been born and reborn into them. You'd be surprised at where a lot of us have ended up, from the homes of human movie stars, to police and military dogs to dogs for the blind, though you probably won't meet any of those here, they are too dedicated to their calling. After what happened in Australia with Aristotle, you guys should know that we can pop up anywhere."

Another event happened during this time period that nearly went unnoticed. Jacaranda passed her seventeenth birthday and became an adult in the eyes of the Jellicles. A small party was held between the Jellicles and a couple of pollicles. As soon as the calico queen had been pronounced of age by Alonzo, who was standing in for Munkunstrap, Twitch sank to a knee and declared his undying devotion to her and proposed. Jacaranda stood there in front of the young tom, tapping an unsheathed claw against her lips. "I'll think about it," she replied with a twinkle in her eyes. "After all a better offer might come along."

Rumpleteaser just shot her daughter a venomous look from where she was standing beside Mungojerrie, Twitch had approached the pair the night before and asked for their blessing and surprisingly had received their whole hearted support (even from Tease). The new queen blanched a little and then pulled the kneeling and worried tom to his feet and into a passionate smooch, "Of course I accept. How could I do anything but?"

The ceremony was held that night in front of the entire assembled group of pollicles and Jellicles. Jac's parents were leaving the next day and wanted to see their daughter safely wed before they left.

As the two newly mated Jellicles departed, Namahira pulled Jerrie, Teaser and Skye aside. "I have changed the group a little. Skye and Aristotle will now be accompanying you."

Jerrie was a little perplexed. "Skye I can understand but Aris can't even transform yet. Why do we need him to come along?"

"Aris can now transform into the form of a small human child, I've been working quite hard with him over the last few days and he finally managed to figure it out last night. I don't know why he needs to go. Just that he does. Nix will also be going along."

"Have you got any news on who we are meeting in Rome?" asked Teaser.

"His name is Ducé and he will meet you outside the Airport. Once you meet up, you will have to pass along the transformation spell, just as we have been doing for everyone who joins us here. Skye knows what he looks like so there should be no problems there."

Skye looked a little shocked at the name, "so Jericho's got it right then? You're going to turn the world on its head if this gets out the way I think it will."

"We'll deal with that later. With luck the damage and exposure will be minimal. Now off you go. You leave at 4am."

With that the two cats and one dog headed off to ensure they were fully packed and get as much sleep as they could. On the way Teaser collected Nix and gave her the word to cut her evening short and go and pack. Skye approached Dom and let her know of Namahira's revelation about her adopted son, assuring her that he'd be looked after, Dom went up to their rooms to get some gear together for the pup.

Namahira excused herself from the celebration and went back to the office that she'd been provided. She was sitting there going over the plans that she'd made to that point when she was interrupted by a quiet knock on the door.

"Come in?"

The door opened to expose Jericho on the other side. "Do you have a few moments to talk?"

"Sure, anytime, you know that."

Jericho drew a deep breath. "Are you sure of what you are doing with this? You are breaking rules that have been in place for thousands of years and for good reason too."

"There are reasons that I am doing this. Never before has one of the guardian tribes been in this much peril. Rules must be bent or even broken completely if they are to be saved. I do know what I am doing and I know what we are risking by doing this." Namahira assured her friend.

Jericho entered the room and shut the door behind him. Sinking into a chair in front of the desk he asked, "are you dead sure? I don't want to turn around in a months' time if this all blows up in our faces and find out that you were only acting out of some sense of desperation."

"Of course I'm acting out of a sense of desperation. How can you think otherwise? Don't you think that I've been trying to find some other way, any other way of finding out the information we need to know? All I can do is to minimise the damage and ensure that we are not seen to be causing any sort of threat. That's why it will only be you, Niagra and Elizabeth going…"

"Are you nuts?" broke in Jericho. "There is no way known I'm taking my mate and daughter on this sort of mission."

"Don't you see? They have to go. We have to show that we are not a threat. Having two members of the group being a young mother and her newborn is one of the best signs I can think of to indicate this. I know that it's putting your family at risk but I've made it as safe as possible, the contact I'm sending you to see is the most likely of all to see it that way. At least I'm not sending you to Brutus." Assured the Pollicle leader.

"I know why you are doing this, and it's purely due to your position and the fact that you have never led us astray that I am even considering what you say, but let me assure you," at this Jericho leant forward over the desk and hissed. "I will never ever forgive you if anything happens to either of them."

With that the pollicle straightened and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

Behind him in a quiet voice, Namahira murmured to herself, looking to where her tribe mate had stormed out. "If anything happens to any of you, I'll never forgive myself."

…

Two days later the group that had gone on the world journey felt much smaller. Jerrie, Tease, Skye and the young Aristotle had departed to Italy, Virginia had nor been able to make the trip after all due to coming down with a chest infection, and were currently somewhere over Europe. Jericho and his family were about to board their aircraft to England. Due to the ongoing hostility being shown by Jericho and Niagra to Namahira, the pollicle leader had left the farewell and final instructions to Toby.

"Now remember, Old D and Demeter will be meeting up with you at Heathrow and you'll be boarding the train up to Edinburgh, where Caesar will meet you at the station there. Like with the other group, you'll have to quickly teach the transformation spell to him and then make your way to your destination. Remember that our hopes and wishes go with you." Toby wrapped his friends in an embrace. "Good luck."

…

A few hours later that day, "what bloody day is this any way" grumbled Jerrie, the first group arrived at the Leonardo Da Vinci airport in Rome. Quickly grabbing their bags they made their way out of the airport and to a pre-arranged meeting point, where a large black short haired mastiff waited. Upon seeing the group the dog leapt to his feet and began leading the group away from the airport arrivals area to secluded spot out near the cargo terminal. Ushering the group in between a few cargo containers and having one last look around the area the Cane Corso loped back to the group.

"Comé Sta. Salvé. Welcome to Rome. I am Ducé" announced the pollicle in heavily accented English. "I have made the acquaintance of the sweet Skye before but I do not believe I have ever had the pleasure of meeting this lovely creature in the past."

"That's enough Ducé. The ladies name is Rumpleteaser and she is mated to Mungojerrie here so don't go trying your tricks on her. This little fellow is Aristotle and is under the guardianship of Namahira, so behave yourself." Skye admonished the suave canine, with a smile.

"Fair enough." The change in the italian's attitude and language was immediately noticeable, he was much more businesslike and the accent had disappeared. "Namahira said that you'd have something to teach me and after that I was to take you somewhere." He morphed into a black short furred hybrid form as he said this.

"Yes. Come here." Jerrie morphed into his Jellicle form and touched his forehead to that of Ducé. A moment later he leaned back and broke the contact.

"Did it work?" asked Skye.

In response the figure of Ducé blurred and became a large naked black man. Quickly realising his state Ducé covered himself and blurred back into his hybrid form. "Merde!" he uttered. "That was incredible."

"Now remember please Ducé. You can only remain in the human form for 24 hours before you need to resume a hybrid pollicle or canine form for at least one hour. And for the Everlasting Cats sake, make sure you have some clothes around when you change, we've noticed that the humans get a little excited when someone walks around in public without them." Rumpleteaser instructed.

"Everlasting Cat?" Ducé cocked an eye at Skye.

"The Jellicle name for the Great Pack Leader."

"Ah. I see. Now that we have that out of the way please tell me where we need to go."

Skye hesitated briefly. "We need to go to the Holy Cee and meet a Cardinal Benedict Monfredo."

"Bene? What do you need to see my keeper for?" asked Ducé.

"Keeper?" questioned Jerrie. "What's going on Skye?"

"Hundreds of years ago a secret was entrusted to the church and with that secret a pollicle was placed in the care of a branch of the Vatican. Ducé is the latest in a long line to hold this post and while the details of this secret have fallen by the wayside the pollicles presence has not. It is for this very reason that we have been asked to meet with the Cardinal. Namahira has deemed that it is time once more for it to come to light with the hope that we can gain the aid of the only organisation that has ties everywhere we may care to need them. We just need to be careful about how we do it."

"But who is this cardinal? And why has he been chosen?"

"Bene is the head archivist of the Popes secret chronicles. It's a title in name only, mostly, but it gives him direct access to his holiness and is a position of power within the church." Responded Ducé.

"Namahira has provided me with the reference for where this secret has been recorded and we will need to somehow get the cardinal to read it before going any further." Skye revealed. "In the meantime we can check into a hotel and wait until he has. Ducé I'll give you the reference. It's going to be your task to get it in the hands of the Cardinal."

"I don't know how I'm going to do that but I'll try, check in to the Hyatt and I will contact you there." Skye handed over the reference to the Italian who changed back into his canine form and headed off. The others made their way back to the passenger terminal and hailed a taxi.

…

Several hours later, Ducé still had not worked out a way to convince the cardinal to pull the required document from the secret archive. He'd made and discarded several complicated plans, before finally going with something exceedingly simple and direct.

The cardinal entered his apartments after yet another long day of duty with his friend and mentor the holy father, to find an impeccably clean desk in his study, a single sheet of paper, marked with the header of the Holy Cee, rested in the centre and had written upon it (in latin) "You must consult the document at ref: Spec 1353;24;12 page 286 with the utmost urgency."

Intriged the cardinal read and re-read the sheet. Placing it back upon the desktop he looked down at his pet and nearly constant companion, "well boy. It looks like we have a bit of a mystery on our hands. It's no good now, the archives are locked up, I'll have a look in the morning."

Ducé simply lay his head back down on his forepaws and grinned a doggy grin to himself. "Sometimes the simple plans are often the best."

…

As the Cardinal was pawing through the secret chronicles, a thousand miles away a train was just coming into Edinburgh station in Scotland. A large elderly figure and mature attractive woman alighted with a trio of white huskies, 2 adults and a pup. Depositing their bags in a nearby cloakroom they left the station and made their way down to the West Princes Street gardens and to the open air theatre there. Currently deserted due to some truly abysmal Scottish weather. Scanning the area as they arrived, Jericho spotted the shivering figure of a British Bulldog huddled beneath one of the seats in the leeward side of a wall.

"There he is" muttered Jericho. "Yo! Caesar."

"About bloody time you great pillock. It's bloody freezing out here. Why couldn't we meet in a nice warm pub or something?" Came the chattering reply, "and what are you doing talking in front of this lot?" Caesar looked pointedly at the two humans.

"Things aren't what they seem, so stop your whinging. You sound like a poodle." Jericho paused for the incensed bulldog to stop his spluttering and continued. "We need to see your master."

"What?" That drew Caesar up short, "But nobody goes to see him from our kind. You know the rules."

"Yeah, but rules change. We need to see him as soon as we can, but before we do, we need to teach you something. Dem can you do the honours please?"

The human woman sat down on one of the wet seats and pulled the soaked bulldog into her lap

"Hold still a moment" she murmered.

"I'll try luv but its bloody cold out here." Replied the pollicle.

Dem bent down and touched her forehead to the shivering dog passing along the knowledge of the transformation spell.

"Whoa, that's a head rush" said the dog.

"Don't transform here. You'll end up naked and it's too cold for that sort of thing out here." Jericho warned. "Now then we need you to lead us to him. Can you do that?"

"Yep. He's in the castle at the moment, dogs roam nearly at will, but we're not going to be able to get these two in." Caesar indicated Old D and Demeter.

"Don't worry about us." The two Jellicles moved to a more sheltered spot and transformed into a large shaggy grey and a sleek red and gold cat. Demeter shoved their clothing as far back under the shelter as she could and joined the others. "Can we get moving please. I'm in agreement with your friend here. It is freezing in this wind."

The mismatched group quickly made their way into the nearby Edinburgh castle and led by Caesar wandered through the private apartments looking for the pollicles master.

They found him in a sitting room in front of a roaring fire, speaking to his wife. Quietly the group waited out of the way in a corner, partially hidden by a settee until the man's wife had left.

Nosing the door closed and then standing on his hind legs Caesar managed to flip the lock, ensuring their privacy. The pollicle then led the other three dogs and two cats to where the human was dozing. Nudging the sleeping figure with his nose, he whined, waking the human up.

The human startled away automatically reached down to give his friend a pat before noticing the presence of the other animals in the room. "What's all this Winston (Caesar), who are your friends?"

…

Back in Rome, the party there had reunited with Ducé in the hotel.

"Bene is reading the archive now." He said "you need to come right away."

The group lost no time in morphing into their animal forms and rushing to the Vatican. Like their friends in Britain they had no trouble accessing the private apartment areas and quickly found themselves in the lavish accommodations afforded to a senior member of the church.

Making their way into the rooms they came across the red robed figure just sitting back in his chair, a large leather-bound tome on the desk in front of him, trying to bring order to the revelations that had just been laid out for him to see.

Teaser wasted no time. Leaping up on the desk, she planted herself on the opposite side of the book and looked the startled priest in the eyes. "You. You're one of them? Aren't you?" The cardinal asked.

Teaser gravely nodded and rested a paw directly above the passage in the archive that revealed the presence of the four guardian tribes of the world.

"But what. What do you want from me?" Benedict asked.

At that Ducé walked up to his former carer and pressed his nose into the badge of office that allowed the holder access to the pope day or night in complete privacy.

"You want to see him? And you want me to take you there?"

Ducé nodded.

"I. Um." The cardinal looked once more at the book and then at the group of cats and dogs that stood before his desk. "Very well."

Taking up his badge of office, the cardinal led a strange procession through the Vatican to the private apartments of Pope Clement XV. Waving off the Swiss guards that were bracketing the door to the Holy Fathers rooms, Cardinal Benedict led the three cats and two dogs into the sitting room.

"One moment whilst I go and check to see if his Holiness can see us."

The cardinal opened another door to reveal a fairly well appointed lounge room occupied by a reasonably young looking man and a couple of the Swiss guardsmen, who were all sitting down, rather stiffly in the case of the guards, enjoying a game of rugby on a television set. The cardinal bent to whisper something in the reclining mans ear and then ordered the guards to leave.

The pope got to his feet and donned his robes of office, which surprisingly seemed to add twenty years to his age, before preceding the cardinal back into the sitting room. He paused on the verge at the sight of the animals arrayed before him before taking a seat in a rather plain looking chair, seemingly out of place with the lavish luxury that filled the room.

He looked to the cardinal. "What is it that you wished to discuss Bene? I hope it's not that you want to adopt some more pets. It's only due to your office that you are able to keep your dog."

"Your Holiness. It is not I that need to discuss something with you."

"My lord" came a female English accented voice. "We mean no harm, but we need your help."

The pope whipped his head around to view a sight that had him reaching for his rosary and murmuring the Lord's Prayer. Before him to his shock the animal figures before him began to blur and transform.

…

"Your Majesty" came a deep English voice. "We mean no harm, but we need your help."

To the Kings utter amazement the animal figures before him began to blur and transform.

…

**Well that's it for the next chapter.**

**I'm hoping it was a bit of a shock to you. Please note that I chose the individuals that were told the truth due to the organisations that they represent. No offense is intended or desired. Clear reasons why will be explained in the next chapter.**

**Please review.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Journeys Chap 23.**

**Well I'm glad that everyone liked Ducé. I've kind of been bitten in the backside with him. He's only supposed to be a one off character used as an introductory. I suppose I need to work out a way to bring him out as a more mainstream character and allow him to be the schmooze that he is. It won't be in this chapter but I'll see what I can do. **

**Special thanks as always to Faded Book, Skitternimble and MsCloverJellicle for your reviews, they are always gratefully received.**

…

_One week ago._

The Jellicles stirred in their cages as the single overhead fluorescent tube flickered into life. Apart from the two large metal cages standing in the centre and the complete lack of fittings, the room could have been mistaken for any of thousands of commercial bathrooms around the country.

The individual that had turned on the light was revealed. It was a human male, about 5 and a half feet tall and quite thin. He had thick black hair going slightly gray at the temples and a well trimmed beard. The man walked briskly over to the cages, ignoring those of the group that instinctively morphed into their feline forms. Unlatching a cage at random he indifferently tossed the silver and grey bundle he held in one hand into the back of it and then stepped back allowing the cage door to snap shut once again.

The bundle of fur smacked into the rear wall of the cage with a groan and slid down to the floor revealing exactly what it was.

"Munk" gasped an older red queen, rushing over to where the two cages were butting up against each other and reaching through to her friend.

Immediately the man ceased his contemplation of the cages and their occupants and opened the door to the red queens cage. Fending off an attack by the groggy figure of Cori with a savage kick, he grabbed the scarlet cat by the tail and hauled her out. Touching her on the back of the neck with the tazer hidden in his hand the cat went limp and the man tucked her under his arm and made to exit the room.

Before he could reach the door it was opened from the other side. Another man rather more thickset than the first stood there panting. "Sir. Thomas and Morgan have failed to check in."

"Tch. That is most interesting and unlike them. They know how much I detest tardiness." He paused for a moment. "Very well. Send someone, no, go yourself, and find out why they haven't reported as scheduled. For their sakes I'd hope it's a communications failure."

The larger man blanched slightly and left the room at a run. The bearded man looked down at the red cat in his hand, "Oh don't worry my dear. I still have time for you." Stroking the golden torc about his neck he left the room, locking the door behind him.

Back in the cages behind him the remainder immediately rushed to help their fallen friends, with the sole exception of a large mane coon who stood at the cage door. "Bombs?"

…

Several hours later the two men returned. The larger man holding the spitting and snarling Bombalurina in his outstretched hands, the only thing protecting him from her claws were the heavy welding gloves he was wearing. She'd looked to have undergone the same treatment as Munkunstrap, small patches of fur had been shorn off in various places and she still had a tight metal collar in place around her throat.

The smaller man approached the cage door where several of the cats were standing and jabbed at them with an electric prod, driving them back. The larger man quickly threw her into the cage and slammed the door shut.

"I want us ready to move in 30 minutes. No longer or you'll be joining Thomas and Morgan, do you understand me?" the small man ordered his subordinate.

"Yes sir. Right away sir."

"Oh and you." The leader turned his attention to the cats. "I'd get that collar off if you intend her to breathe any time soon." With that he turned and left the room.

Quickly approaching Bombalurina, Westerly checked out the metal collar on her neck. It was skin tight and then some, actually digging into her throat constricting the flow of air into her lungs. Now that the adrenaline of her return was wearing off, the scarlet queen was struggling to breathe. A small catch was holding it together on the nape of her neck, there was no obvious release and after a quick search Westerly flicked out a claw, poking it into a small hole he'd found under where Bomb's fur was bunching up against the collar. A small click was heard and the collar fell away,

Bombalurina drew in a wheezing breath and began to cough. Led to where their captors had put out food and water for them she was able to take a calming drink, before the now recovered Munkunstrap began to ask her about her experiences.

Bombs sat down against the bars, wrapped in the arms of her mate, and began to relate her story.

"I woke up strapped down to some sort of table. I had something sharp around my neck and some sort of machines hooked up to me," she smoothed down fur over the bald patches nervously. "That little man was there and he went on about how we were all freaks and how they'd been looking for evidence of us for hundreds of years and how proud he was that he was the one to 'Finish what his forebears started.' He started out asking me simple questions and when I wouldn't answer he was going to stick me with some sort of needle. It was then that the other man came in and started to say something about a fire and 'the two of them are dead.' The leader asked him a few more questions about a computer and if they'd been found. The big man said he didn't know but he had some laptop, but it was destroyed in the fire. The other man said they'd move just in case. They then strapped that metal collar on me and let me off the table. I scratched the little guy and he ordered the other one to carry me and here I am."

"What's the building like outside? None of us have seen it." Munk asked.

"All I saw was a long corridor with big windows along one side and doors on the other. We're in about the middle with the room they had me in at one end. There was rubbish everywhere and I don't think they've been here long, from what I could see it wouldn't surprise me if it was only this room and the one they asked me questions in, were the only ones cleaned up."

"Did you see dad anywhere?" Lizbet asked.

"Sorry dear. I didn't see hide nor hair of Misto anywhere" replied Bombs.

"He only got one bolt off when they attacked us, but it must have been enough to get away. I hope he's alright" whispered the young queen as she cuddled into her great aunt.

"I'm sure he is fine" said Bombs as she looked at Munks eyes over the head of the smaller queen, a hopeful look on her face.

They were interrupted once more by the door to the room banging open. In came several men that were unfamiliar to the captives, pulling a pair of pallet trolleys behind them. Hoisting the cages onto them the men dragged the cages out of the room.

Outside it was like Bombalurina had described. A long corridor that would not have been out of place in a school or hospital, except for the broken windows and detritus of ages caking the floor and walls. Many of the doors were hanging off their hinges and it was only their room and two others near the end of the corridor that looked to be in good repair. A steady stream of equipment was being moved from the end room and put onto trucks that were in a loading bay at that end of the hall. Their captors pulled them down to await their turns to be loaded onto the covered trucks. As they were loaded on the other door in the hallway was opened and a final Jellicle figure was led out. It was immediately recognisable as the wayward magician. He'd been trussed up in leg irons and some sort of manacles that extended over his entire paws, they'd been chained together to a wide belt with a too short length forcing him to shuffle crouched over awkwardly. Also chained to the belt was a thick metal collar and mask. Made from metal bands and thick leather it extended over his eyes like a blindfold and secured under his jaw leaving a small opening at his mouth to eat, drink and breathe through. All in all it was a painful sight to witness. The magician was placed in a smaller cage and placed on the back of the truck. Not far from where the cages had been dumped. He sat there dejectedly as the truck started up, and showed no sign of life until his daughter screamed at him "Daddy!"

At the familiar voice Misto jerked back, nearly strangling himself, and instinctively tried to look around. Made physically impossible by the collar and hood.

"He can hear us," Tantomile said. "Keep talking."

"Misto. Tant's can hear your thoughts. Do you know if anyone got away?" Munk called over.

"Electra, her kitten and Jet. Old D is still out there and he thought he saw Jet rescue some others before he blacked out." Tants relayed.

"Did they do anything to you? Ask you any questions or anything like that?" asked the protector.

"No nothing. He got the feeling that whoever these people are they are afraid of him. He woke up trussed up and hasn't been out of the bindings."

"Can you do any magic? Can you get us out of here?" queried Tugger.

"Nothing I'm afraid. He needs to be able to see and to be able to use his paws. He wants to know if you can transform and break out?"

"No. No we can't. The cages we are in are too strong and too small. If we change in here we'll crush someone and it'd do no good anyway the bars are too thick." Westerly replied.

"What about the locks? Can anyone open them or pick one?"

"Nope again. They're pretty solid and none of us know how to pick one. We really need Tease or Jerrie here."

"All we can do then is bide our time and wait for either rescue or opportunity to escape. Don't forget that there are a lot of cats and dogs out there that will come to our aid as soon as they find out what's going on."

With that sad commentary from the magician he lay back to try to get as much rest as he could. The rest of the Jellicles, much to the disgust of the younger members, decided to do them same. Afterall who knew when an opportunity to escape would come…

…

_Present_

"Your majesty. We mean you no harm but we need your help." Old Deuteronomy said as he transformed into a rather large and rather naked black man. Realising his state of dress Old D grabbed a comforter off a nearby chair and wrapped it around himself.

The king of England sat there stunned, he hadn't gotten over the shock enough to be terrified yet, he looked around the room as the other animals that had come into his private sitting room also began to morph into a human form. Before they had finished transforming the first man/cat/thing had thrown more blankets and covers at them.

"What? What are you?" the king asked with wild eyes. Directing his question towards what he'd always thought as one of his closest friends and loyal pet bulldog.

"We, sire, are Pollicle dogs, and Jellicle cats" replied Caesar.

"Like the poems" muttered the king in a daze.

"Yes, exactly like the poems. That should make things a little easier." Old Deuteronomy said. "Your majesty, as I said before. We are in need of your help. Recently a large part of our tribe was kidnapped, or kitnapped I suppose you could say, by an unknown group from within our home in London. We still do not know much about the group that has committed this act and we have other cats and dogs chasing down information…"

"You're cats and dogs" mumbled the king. "You're my dog." He said pointing at the rather portly gentleman that until recently had been his faithful pet.

"Oh for the love of the Everlasting Cat. This is going to take ages." Demeter grimaced and took two steps to the dazed man in the chair. The golden haired woman slapped the king across both cheeks in rapid succession. "Snap out of it."

"Demeter!" cried Jericho.

"Madame!" spluttered Caesar. "One does not lay hands upon the king."

"It worked, didn't it?"

The king had been snapped out of his daze. He was still a little shocked but had regained his faculties. "Miss?"

"Demeter, and I suppose you could say it's missus, to be accurate."

"Missus Demeter. While I can understand your actions I'd appreciate it if you did not do it again. Now who or what the hell are you people and what do you want?" demanded the king.

Jericho answered. "Your Majesty. My name is Jericho and this is my mate Niagra with our new pup Elizabeth." At this Jericho indicated the only one of the dogs that had not changed form. "We are, I suppose, Ambassadors from the Pollicle packs in America. The large gentleman over there is Old Deuteronomy and is the leader of the tribe of Jellicle cats that are based here in England. The rather forceful lady is Demeter, his daughter in law and mate of the next leader. Before we go any further I'd dearly like to ask a favour of you. We left a rucksack with some clothes hidden in the theatre down in the western gardens. Is there any way you could possibly send someone to get it? Sitting here dressed as we are would be rather off putting."

The king acquiesced to this request and pressing a button on the intercom by the desk relayed the instructions to an aide outside. Settling into what amounted to small talk and friendly banter by group in the room, the king mused over how accepting he had become of the entire situation. A burgeoning suspicion made him look up at Old D to find the Jellicle staring back at him with intensity.

"Are you doing something to me sir?" The king asked.

"Actually. Yes I am. I have been using my powers to project a calming influence within the room. It may come as a bit of a shock but most of this party didn't want to reveal themselves, it goes against everything we have known for nearly 4000 years and they are a little stressed."

"I think I can understand that feeling. I'm a little stressed myself." The king said with a grin. Calming influence or not he found himself liking the old cat and they settled into a quiet conversation with the king asking questions about the Jellicle and Pollicle societies and the old cat answering as best he could.

The question of why the Jellicles had settled in England was asked.

"Well, that's a long story. Suffice to say that during the witch hunts and the inquisition, Cats were associated with witchcraft and deviltry and were persecuted as much as those poor women were. It didn't help much that in our case it was closer to the truth than most people think. Due to the more moderate stance in England at the time, the only real Jellicle community left was here. Many, many of my friends were destroyed throughout the rest of Europe and the America's during those years. Since then we haven't really grown too much and hiding has become second nature."

"Wait a moment" interrupted the king. "You just said, 'You lost many friends.' You were actually there? That period was over 200 years ago. Exactly how old are you sir?"

"I, um, oh bast I've let my mouth run away again." Muttered Old D to himself.

Luckily, a small buzz on the intercom drew the kings attention. He was informed that the bag in question had been found and searched and was available, where would he like it to be put.

"Just put it beside the door and leave. I will grab it in a moment." The king ordered.

"Are you sure you do not wish me to bring it in, sire?" the servant asked.

"No. I said to leave it by the door and I will get it. Now do as you are told and then leave the room."

"Very well your majesty."

Jericho waited a few moments and then cracked open the door. Sure enough the bad containing their clothes was sitting against the wall. He quickly dragged it into the room and began handing out clothing.

"Sire, if you wouldn't mind turning your back please?" asked Dem.

"But of course Madame." The king turned to contemplate the fire roaring before them.

Niagra and Demeter quickly dressed whilst the mens backs were turned.

Once everyone was more comfortable the discussion began again and turned to the situation at large.

"So what is it that you found, that you need my help for?" asked the seated monarch.

"Sire." Old D answered, "A little over a week ago our home in London was attacked and several members of our community were kidnapped for unknown reasons. We have since ascertained how we were tracked down and put a name to the group that did it but that is all. What we came here to try to do was convince you, as one leader to another, to aid us in finding our friends and family. I had visions of you ordering searches at ports and airports, they know well enough to change to cats if there is any risk of discovery, however after our talk about governance I can see that you can't actually do that."

"I may not be able to order it but I think that there is something I can do. It will rely on a bit of creative journalism but I know a reporter I can leak something to that will do just as well."

"Sire?" Caesar queried.

"Well Winston." Began the king.

"It's Caesar actually but you can call me anything you like."

"Oh. Well. Caesar then. I simply need to tromp through the more public area of the castle having a loud discussion with my good friends here." At this the king indicated the entire party, "about some fiend having stolen the prize cats that they were going to present to my wife and myself as a gift to celebrate our anniversary. I can guarantee that nothing will leave the country without a good once over by loyal Brits. At the very least it will send the captors to ground within the country and give you time to find them if your information sources are as good as you say." The king was rather proud of his little plan, until Dem spoke up from where she was playing with Niagra and Elizabeth.

"That's all very good sire, but don't we need to bring your wife in on this too?"

"Oh hell. I forgot. She doesn't know anything about it and she knows that I prefer dogs to cats, no offence."

"None taken." Dem demurred.

"But she does like cats." The king mused. "It wouldn't be too far a stretch for her to believe I was actually planning this."

"Planning what my dear?"

The group turned to see a beautiful young brunette woman standing at the open door, looking at the group. "Don't you want to introduce me to your friends?"

Dem looked at Jericho with a cocked eyebrow. "Sorry. I forgot to relock the door." He said.

The king leapt to his feet. "These are the people who I've been talking to about the anniversary gift I was planning to give you, but they have hit a problem. Someone has stolen it."

"Well then you should call the police" said the queen to Old D, who was obviously the leader of the group.

"We can't do that I'm afraid. The people who have stolen them are unknown to us and may be able to track us back to our current abode to get the ones they missed the first time. We simply do not know who in authority to trust apart from your husband."

"Oh. How mysterious. Am I allowed to know what the present was to be?" The queen turned to her husband.

"I was getting you a cat. It was to be a rather special breed and someone found out and have kitnapped the ones you were to select from."

"You see Ma'am" interposed Demeter. "We came to the king to see if there was anything he could do below the radar, so to speak, because we think that the criminals are trying to move them offshore."

"And we'd just come up with a plan to leak it to the media. Every dockworker and baggage handler in the country will be keeping an eye out for us once the media gets a hold of the story. Also once it's out there I can expect the head of Scotland Yard to be contacting me to offer his help." Continued the King.

"Oh that is just brilliant my dear, and so very thoughtful with the gift. I really do miss not having a cat to curl up on my lap at night. Let me know how it goes. Madame's, Gentlemen." With that the queen left the room.

"I think I've put my foot in it now." Mused the king from where the entire group had stood for the queens exit. "I'm going to have to get her a cat."

"Well sire. In the spirit of our union here I can always check within the tribe to see if there is any of our number who would like to take a place within your household. It would benefit us both to have an unofficial ambassador to keep communications open. It would have to wait until after the recovery of our friends however." Old D said.

"You'd do that?" Asked the king.

"Sire. It would be our honour."

"Very well then. Where are you staying while in Edinburgh?"

"We haven't found anywhere yet, sire. We pretty much came here directly from the train." Jericho said, "as soon as we leave we'll try to find a hotel."

"Nonsense." The king reached over and pressed the button to summon his aide.

Immediately a middle aged servant appeared in the now open doorway. "Sire?"

"Patrick. Please prepare three rooms" at this he looked towards Demeter, who nodded. "Yes, three rooms in the private quarters for my guests. Thankyou."

"Very good sire. I will get on it right away." Patrick said and then bowed and left.

"Excellent." The king slapped his hands together. "While he is doing that, we can go for a stroll through the castle. I feel a loud discussion is in order." With a grin the monarch led the way out into the castle.

…

The plan worked as expected. The everpresent media and paparazzi that followed the royal family around like bloodhounds were incensed. That they'd missed something as important to their eyes as what the king intended to get as an anniversary gift, and then for it to be stolen before it could be given was the icing on the cake. By that evening the story had hit the headlines and was rapidly making its way around the world, prompted by a hurried interview of the king by the royal reporter. By morning it was front page news on every paper in the country and even had local animal groups and royal watchers offering rewards for information in the recovery of the cats whose descriptions had been passed on the night before. By midmorning a call had been placed, as predicted by the head of Scotland Yard promising all aid for the recovery of the cats.

One last strange message was received at the palace towards the evening. It was from the Archbishop of Westminster's office and simply read "Tell them that we are aware of the situation and are on it."

…

**Well that's it again. **

**I hope it's answered a couple of questions raised as to what I need the pope and King of England for.**

**Please leave me your thoughts.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Journey's Chapter 24**

**Quick shoutout to Faded Book and Skitter. Thanks for the reviews.**

**I know it's been a long time since I've updated this story and I can only blame an extremely hectic work schedule together with a serious case of writers block.**

…

"Have you heard anything yet?" Toby fired the question at Namahira as he stormed into her office.

Things had started to get a little crowded at the resort, more and more pollicles were arriving every day, and although some of them were being moved onto transport to England after being briefed by the leadership, the stress had begun to take an effect. All the Jellicles were on edge, not just from worry about their friends but also from the constant close proximity of so many dogs. Twitch had already gotten into 3 scuffles and one all in brawl, the Alsations and Rottweilers in particular seemed to need to challenge the large cat, no matter what form he was in. The rest of the Jellicles weren't faring much better. Dominica herself had been tree'd more than once by a couple of young over enthusiastic Jack Russells who just could not resist chasing the smaller cat, the last time resulting in yet another scuffle when Toby and Jac had come to her rescue.

"Not yet Toby" replied the long suffering Pollicle Matriach. "They've only been over there for a day or so. Give them a chance."

"We need to do something, anything. All this waiting around is driving us nuts and if you don't do something about what's going on out there then I'll decide for you." Toby waved his hand in the direction of the rest of the resort.

"I'll speak to everyone again, but I doubt it'll do any good. There's just too much instinct and enmity between our two species for calm when we get this many together. Just be happy that Brutus hasn't shown up yet."

"Brutus?" the new name had distracted the Jellicle from his worries for a moment.

"He's a Malinois that lives down in Washington. He's ex military, retired due to injuries he received in action, and is now living in a certain big white house down there with a lovely family. However due to the nature of his family, he can be a little up himself."

"Up himself?"

"Yes. He's a bit 'My way or the Highway'. I think if it wasn't for the fact that he can't bear to part with the kids there that he'd challenge me for my position. Though with the call that's gone out I'd be surprised if he doesn't show up soon."

"Oh I can't wait," said Toby in a voice heavy with sarcasm.

"Don't worry about it. If he does show and start on at you, you can take the wind out of his sails quite easily. Just take him aside and call him by the name his family have given him…" Namahira leant over and whispered a word in Toby's ear.

He was incredulous. "You're kidding? Right?"

"Not a bit. It'll be even funnier when you first see him. I don't want to spoil the surprise though." Namahira had a massive grin on her face as she said this. Just don't do it in front of anyone. He's a huge pain in the ass, but he keeps an eye on things down there for us and he is a superb organiser, I don't like to upset him too much."

"Well I guess we can deal with that if he shows, but in the meantime if any of my tribemates get hurt or chased again I am not going to be responsible for their actions." Toby levelled his gaze on the old Pollicle behind the desk, "you heard the stories about what happened in Australia and believe me when I say that you really, really don't want anything like that to occur here, Twitch knows what I did there and has held himself back so far. I don't know how much more he is going to take before they find out why you don't hold a cat by the tail."

Before Namahira could respond to the not quite subtle threat, Toby turned on his heel and left.

"Oh my boy," she thought. "You don't want to go there. I guess I'll have to have another talk with the pack. Maybe I can get the husky teams to ride shotgun on them in the public areas. I wish the two groups would just get along but I suppose that's nature for you." Namahira couldn't deny the feelings of the younger pollicles amongst them; after all even she sometimes got the urge to chase the Jellicles when they wandered the halls in their feline forms. Luckily for her she'd managed to mature out of it a long time ago, and now could only hope that the younger members of the pack would figure it out sooner rather than later.

…

"My lord" came a female English accented voice. "We mean no harm, but we need your help."

The pope whipped his head around to view a sight that had him reaching for his rosary and murmuring the Lord's Prayer. Before him to his shock the animal figures before him began to blur and transform.

"Witchcraft!" he whispered as he, quite literally, fell out of his chair.

"Non, Non, your holiness." The cardinal rushed to the popes aid, lifting the shocked figure off the carpet. "These are a sign from god."

The reverence in the cardinals voice somehow worked its way through the haze of fright in the much younger mans mind, drawing his eyes away from the terrifying beings transforming in his sitting room.

"A sign from god?" he questioned.

"Your holiness…" one of the creatures spoke again, only to be cut off by the moan from the figure in white.

"Ms Teaser, shh." The cardinal hushed the now human sized Jellicle. The group had decided for the sake of modesty, and the company they were in, to only take their transformation to the point of enlarged versions of their Jellicle and Pollicle forms.

"Pepe. Look at me." Cardinal Benedict turned the pope by his shoulders away from the figures in the room, and took on a gentle lecturing tone, revealing the teacher that he'd been for most of his career. "Pepe, these are not devils or demons. They are holy messengers from the almighty. They have been here before."

"No, no, no, no, no. They are monsters." The pope was trying to turn his head to keep the visitors in sight.

"They are not monsters my lord," Benedict gave a silent prayer and took a firm grasp of his spiritual fathers, and former recalcitrant pupil, chin and turned his face away. "They are Jellicles and are blessed by god himself."

"We don't mean to hurt or scare you, but we need your help." A small piping voice drew the popes attention back to the figures standing on the carpet.

Standing in the midst of them was a small child, about 6 or 7 years old by appearance, with sunbrowned skin and a shock of bright red hair. Someone had draped a length of cloth around him to make him decent and he was looking at the pope.

"I know you're scared, but so are we. Someone's taken our friends and we can't find them. You're the only one who can help us," Aristotle continued. "We're not bad people, we just want to get our friends back."

Pope Clement gazed upon the child, completely disarmed by the boys innocence and yet a feeling of sacrifice and pain that emanated from him. A feeling of calm and trust began to come over the stunned pontiff. Aristotles timely interruption allowed the cardinal to organise his thoughts and bring the pope back to the room.

"Pepe," said the cardinal as he guided the pope back to his chair and placed the old leatherbound book in the pontiffs' lap. He opened the creaky tome to a bookmarked page in the book. "This is the archive from your namesake Pope Clement V for the year of 1312. If I can direct your attention to this entry here. It explains who and what our visitors are."

The pope glanced and the passage briefly and then back up at the beings standing in front of him, then back to the child before beginning to read the passage closely. It differed from the usual examples of the archiving of the time. Missing was the flowery prose and beautiful illustrations and word art common with the church tomes of the time. It was a simple handwritten passage in barely legible writing.

The pope read the passage silently for a long time, translating the ancient latin in his head. Reaching the end of the entry he went back to the start to read it again. Meanwhile the group who'd grown weary standing in the middle of the room had taken seats around the room. The pollicles had sat on the carpet with Aris between them and the Jellicles had taken up lounging on the chairs in the boneless way that only cats can seem to achieve.

The pontiff sat back in silence to compose his thoughts over what he'd just read. Finally he looked up at the group around the room. "The archive only spoke of a meeting between dogs and my predecessor, it didn't say anything about there being cats there?"

"We weren't at the last meeting, Your Holiness, and to be brutally honest, we didn't even know it had occurred and probably wouldn't have agreed with it anyway." This was said by a striking older female cat with orange, yellow and black calico markings, "I believe though that the entry does mention us. We are Jellicle cats. Those that were at the meeting were Pollicles."

The pope read back through the passage again, nodding at one part before he closed the large book and handed it back to the hovering Cardinal. "Very well, what would you have of me my dear? I take it that you speak for your party."

"Your holiness…"

"Please, just call me Father whilst in private. It is easier for everyone."

"Father. We are seeking some information on a cult that used to be a part of the Catholic church. A cult that we have been told you researched during your novitiate and one that you may very well have more access to information now than you did during your thesis."

"A cult? All this is about a cult? Which one, I researched hundreds during that time?" the pope was perplexed.

"We aren't sure what they call themselves, but they are known as 'Anubis Worshipers' or 'The cult of Anubis'."

"The Cult of Anubis? That name rings a bell." Mused the pontiff. "Please come with me into my office, it's a little more private than out here."

The pope led the group back through the door which led to his private quarters and into a well appointed office, lined with bookshelves and desks cluttered with piled books, the pontiff looked about but made no apologies for the mess. "Cardinal Monfredo." At the address the cardinal dropped to a knee. "I need you to find something suitable for your friends to wear whilst they are here. Something with a hood or veil would probably be best, I don't want to start a panic within our ranks if anyone see's our visitors."

"Don't worry about hoods, Bene," this came from the Pollicle that used to be the cardinals faithful pet. "Just get us some robes to cover up. We'll take care of looking like everyone else."

The cardinal kissed the proffered ring of the pope and exited the office.

"Now then," said the pope from behind his desk. "I believe some introductions may be in order?"

"Very well father. My name is Rumpleteaser, or Teaser for short, this is my mate Mungojerrie. The loudmouth over there is Ducé and is the Cardinals pet. Then we have Skye, Nix and the young fellow is Aristotle." Teaser indicated all the members in turn. "We're not quite the holy messengers that you seem to think. We're a group that's in a hell of a lot of trouble and we need any help you can give."

The man behind the desk cocked an eyebrow at the last statement. "So our record is wrong? You're not the angels it says? Don't worry my dear. I learned long ago to take the entries in the archives with a certain amount of scepticism, it's not that we don't believe in what they say, more that times have changed and we know that there is a certain amount of romance intermixed in the facts of the time periods. I have no doubt that you are good, um, people, but Angels is something completely different."

"Oh I wouldn't discount it completely my son," an unearthly voice was echoing from the small form of Aristotle. "They may not be Angels but I do have a little more contact with them, than I do with your own species."

Pope Clement XV fell to his knees before the now glowing gaze and feeling of awe that was emanating from the young boy.

"Rise, my son. I would not tax this poor child any longer than is needed. I am pleased with your service, but disappointed in the way in which your kind has used the free will given to you. You know of what I speak, clean up my house and help my children. Trust in those I have sent to you."

With that the light dimmed around Aristotle and he collapsed into the arms of Nix, who'd seen the results of someone being used as an avatar before, and was ready for the subsequent reaction.

"Uh." The pontiff was doing a marvellous imitation of a landed fish at the moment, Teaser thought and decided to take pity on him.

"Father! Father!" Teaser snapped her fingers in front of the shocked man. "Father! Look at me." It was no good the multiple shocks of the day had finally caught up with the pope, and his brain was failing to cope.

"Oh for the love of the everlasting cat." Jerrie reached onto a side table where a pitcher of water was sitting beside a glass and upended it over the man's head.

The physical shock managed to do what Teaser had been unable to and broke the pope out of his fugue. Coughing and spluttering he gaped once at Jerrie who was standing there jug in hand and then at Aris who was still unconscious in the arms of Nix. Throwing himself out of the chair he knelt in reverence before the pair. He reached out a trembling hand to the boys face before pausing to look at Nix for permission. At the single nod he reached over and stroked the boys hair. "Will he be all right?" he asked over his shoulder at Teaser.

"Yes. It just takes a lot out of you to be used as a channel," was the reply.

"Anything you need, anything you want will be provided for you. Any assistance in any way will be given."

"We need information. We need to know who these people are. Most importantly we need to know 'Where' these people are?" stated Nix simply.

"Where they are?" queried the still kneeling pontiff. "You mean that they are still around? That cult was stamped out at the end of the inquisitions. They became so brutal that even the church at the time could not stomach the atrocities that they were performing. Nobody was safe from them; they were torturing and mutilating everything in their path saving their worst for the women accused of witchcraft and for cats…" He trailed off as he looked around the room at the Jellicles.

"They were searching for you? Even then?" realisation had dawned on him as to why they were seeking his aid.

"Yes, they were, and now I'm afraid, they've found us." Teaser replied, "And now we need you to help us find them."

The pope raised himself off the floor and going over to a settee, swept the books adorning it off onto the floor to make space for Nix and the still sleeping Aris. They settled into a discussion around why they were searching for the cult, and what they could do. They were interrupted after about a half hour by the return of Cardinal Monfredo.

Bustling into the room with his arms full of clothing, he made a long bow at the waist in obsequious at the pontiff and passed around the clothing. "I thought it'd be best if we dressed you as visiting clergy."

The robes were quickly donned and the usual blurring and glow surrounded the four adult figure dimming shortly after to reveal the now familiar human features of the Jellicles. The pope looked on with something akin to awe. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that," he murmured.

"Cardinal." The pope drew the attention of Bene, "I need you to get your archivists organised. I have a project of the greatest importance for you. I need you to track down everything you know about the Cult of Anubis at the end of the Inquisition. Then I need you to track their movements through until the present day. I want to know who and where they are. What properties they own and where their members are. Oh and I want it yesterday. You have the full resources of the church in this."

"Your Holiness?" queried the cardinal, surprised at the request and the urgency in the pontiffs voice. "This sort of research would take a lifetime."

"You have a week. All other projects are now on hold. Suborn clergy from other departments if you must but I want results as soon as possible. If any of the other department heads have an issue you can send them to me. Now go."

And Cardinal Monfredo went, accompanied by Ducé who had expressed an interest in helping with the search.

"Is there some way of sending a message to our friends in Britain that we have arrived and are doing our part?" Skye asked.

"Nothing could be simpler. Where are they?" replied the pope.

"Um. Well at the moment I think they'll be at Edinburgh Castle, hopefully getting help from the King."

"My, my. You do have contacts in all the right places. Next thing you'll be saying you have an inroad at the White house and Kremlin."

"Well. Not in the Kremlin, but the head of the FSD has a dog and…"

"I don't want to know. Anyway, I'll contact the Archbishop of Westminster and get him to pass on a message to your friends. If they are anything like you people I am sure they already have him doing all he can to help you."

…

The cult had completed their transfer of their prisoners to the old Middlewood Hospital in Sheffield. The hospital had been used for various things over the years before being sold off. The leader of the cult had purchased the property years before and it had sat there neglected and unused until now. The local teens had been using it as a thoroughfare and hiding place to do things that both their parents and the authorities would prefer they didn't, and the first anyone knew about it was when two kids went to their favourite hiding place to wag school and smoke to find it fenced off with a few large men in construction helmets telling them to "bugger off."

Inside the Asylum wing of the buildings the cult leader was pacing the room, pausing periodically to look at the front page of the paper he had under his arm and swear.

At the sound of footsteps in the hallway outside he composed himself and turned to face the door. It opened to display his assistant. "What news?"

"It's true my lord. I have spoken to several friends down near the docks and at the airport. Everything is being inspected and it's done by groups, not just individuals like normal. We can't get them out." The assistant reported.

"Even individually?"

"No there are descriptions of all of them everywhere. You've read the paper and the same reports are up at the docks. Someone has even drawn them there."

"Godfuckingdammit!" The cult leader was furious; he was so close to his goal only to be thwarted at the 11th hour.

A thought occurred to him and a nasty grin spread across his face. "They want to send a message to me do they? Let's make sure they know we received it and send one of our own."

He swept his gaze through the observation room window over the caged Jellicles within. "Let's send a message indeed."

…

**There you go. For everyone who wanted to know what happened in Rome.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Journey's Chapter 25**

**I can only apologise yet again to everyone who has been reading this story and waiting for me to continue it. Life combined with a major case of writers block has stopped me from putting pen to proverbial paper for a long time now. This chapter alone has been started and deleted at least five times when I wasn't happy with it.**

**A little shorter than most but I hope you enjoy it.**

**...**

It was one of those rare clear and sunny days in southern England in late winter. Many people were taking the opportunity to leave the homes they'd been restricted to by the snow and sleet. Whistling to himself, the Anubis cult leader made his way down the road in Sheffield to the local market. "It should be starting any time now," he said to himself quietly as he bought the Times. Glancing at the headlines on the front page he smiled smugly and in anticipation of how his adversaries would react.

…

Kamira rushed through the resort. "Have you seen Toby anywhere?" she asked every pollicle or Jellicle that she came across. Following the vague responses that gradually firmed up, she finally tracked her vagrant leader sitting morosely down by the ice of the river. "TOBY!" she cried, "Come quick. Something's happened."

"Kam?" responded the confused cat.

"Come on. You need to see this." Kamira pulled the white cat to his feet and began to drag him back to the resort buildings.

"Kam?" he said again. "What's going on? Just tell me!"

"I, I can't describe it. I saw it on the internet. You need to see it yourself. Hurry up!" Kamira dropped the paw of the Jellicle and sprinted off. Toby following in her pawsteps until they reached her room.

"Here. Look at this," Kam refreshed the Sky News page on the screen and played a small video file before standing back with her paw over her mouth.

Toby sank onto the bed halfway through the video in disbelief. "This can't be happening," he said to himself in shock, "This just can't be happening…"

…

"Your majesty." An attendant was waiting patiently at the door to the apartment where the King of England was conversing with an older portly gentleman and a couple of younger adults over breakfast.

"Yes Thomas?" replied the king.

"Sire. The chief inspector of Scotland Yard is here and requesting an audience."

The companions of the king looked up at this in expectation. "Perhaps he had some news." They could only hope that it was good.

"Fine. Send him in please," was the response.

Shortly after a tall thin greying man in a formal police uniform was ushered into the room accompanied by a slightly younger but serious looking woman in similar clothing. Both bowed upon entry.

"None of that please my friend. I take it from your presence that you have news?" the king asked, he introduced the others in the room to the man. "This is Chief Inspector Wallis Everett and his aide Inspector Penny Shelton. He's been kind enough to oversee the case of your missing friends.

"I do your majesty." Wally replied, frowning slightly at the kings terminology, "friends? Not pets?" Shrugging slightly he got back on track. Reaching out to his aide, she produced a copy of the morning paper and handed it to him, "I take it that you haven't yet seen this morning's paper sire?"

"No. Not yet. Why? Has there been some development?"

"I'm sorry to say that there is sire." The policeman handed the newspaper to his king and stood back for the inevitable questions. He was not to be disappointed. The king read the front page quickly, blood draining from his face.

"You're sure this is them?"

"Sire. They answer the descriptions of some of the cats that you provided us."

"And the video? The demands?"

"It's already gone viral. We jumped on YouTube as soon as we could and they agreed to take it down and provided us with the source file but it was too late. It already had more than fifty thousand hits and is out there. True to the video a delivery was made to a small country station in Wales with another copy of the demands."

"Excuse me, your majesty, but what has happened." It was the old man that the king had been talking to.

"Sorry D, but you need to read this." The king handed over the paper.

Deuteronomy laid the paper out flat on the table and was joined by a middle aged but still striking woman as they settled down to read.

"Kings Cats Found" was the headline.

The story went on to say that sometime during the evening a video had been posted on YouTube of two cat answering the description of two of the cats that the king had provided being tortured to the point of death. The things done to these two cats were unspeakable and covered only in the vaguest terms in the paper. The video had finished with the promise that these two unfortunates would be dropped at a police station as a sign of good faith and a list of demands, the prime one being the removal of inspectors at the docks and airports and a warning that if the demands were not met within five days, then two more cats would "entertain the masses. On the plus side it looks like the two cats will live."

"What does this mean?" Demeter demanded of the inspector.

Wally looked at the king, a little taken aback at the direct question, and was directed to answer. "It's a standard kidnapping tactic. Unusually brutal, and that is a little disturbing, but promising in that they have released two hostages. We have drawn the conclusion that if we bow to their requests then there is hope that the rest might be released unharmed."

"That won't happen, I'm afraid," Deuteronomy interjected. "These people hate my friends (there was that word again thought the inspector) and will never release them."

"We don't know that for certain," interrupted Penny.

"Unfortunately we do," replied Old D to the agreement of the King.

At that Wally "In that case it's a good thing that I have something else to tell you. When we received the original video file I immediately had our imaging crew begin work on it. You'd be amazed how often these people forget little details that show up and it's often the smallest thing that leads us to their location. My people are confident that they can pinpoint where the film was shot within a day or so. After that it should be relatively simple to round them up and bring this matter to a swift conclusion."

"Very well Chief Inspector. I will let you get back to it. Thank you for bringing us this news personally."

"It was my honour sire. If there is anything else that you need, command and I shall obey."

"Actually Inspector, there is one thing I'd like if you could accommodate us."

Wally looked around the room at the rather fit and hard looking gentleman that had spoken up. "Yes sir?"

"I'd like to accompany you back to your headquarters and be with the officers that rescue our friends. I must be the first one into wherever they are keeping them."

"Again that word. There is something strange going on here," thought the policeman, out loud though he argued "I'd be quite happy for you to accompany us when we make the arrests, however I can't authorise you to accompany our officers."

"Chief Inspector."

"Your majesty"

"I'd appreciate your help and discretion on this. I'm sure Jericho here would not get in your way and would comply with all orders given."

Wally silently conferred with Penny. At the lift of her brow and small shrug he agreed. "Very well sire. Mr Jericho can accompany our teams but he must come back with me today so he can work with them, he will not be armed and must allow them to do their jobs without interference."

"I can agree with that."

"Very well. You can gather anything you may need and come back to London."

Jericho quickly bid goodbye to his mate and daughter before joining the police officers at the castle entrance.

"Oh Chief Inspector." Old D had accompanied Jericho to the gates. "We didn't ask in the office due to the shock of what you told us, but we need to know. Who were the two cats that were returned?"

Wally checked with the notepad handed to him by Penny. "I have it here somewhere," he flipped through several pages, "ah here it is. We believe the two we recovered were a bit of a joke played on us. They gave us back the two oldest cats, Gus and Jennyanydots."

…

**There you go. Please read and leave me a comment.**

**Thankyou.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Journey's ch 26.**

**Big thanks to Faded Book and my anonymous reviewer. Just getting those emails to say you have some feedback makes it all worthwhile. **

**This chapter is a little different from the rest but I couldn't really figure out how to do it any other way.**

**Now on with the show.**

…

It was a typical English evening. Wet, dreary, damp, cold and did I mention wet? The six figures moved out of the shadows and over to the wall surrounding the compound. One of them reached into a pouch on the vest they were wearing and pulled out a small matt black grappling hook strung through with a dark green nylon line. The figure stepped back slightly and swung the hook around and around gathering momentum before releasing it to soar towards the top of the wall.

A muted clink sound was heard and the figure tugged on the line firmly to ensure the hook was seated. A larger figure then connected a dark rope that he was carrying to the end of the line and quickly but quietly pulled this larger rope up and through the carabina attached to the hook until the end was back in his hands. He held the rope tight as the original person quickly scurried up. The others of the group scanned the surrounds constantly as the anchorman continued to hold the rope, and watched his team mate pause for a second just below the walls parapet, before scurrying over and disappearing from sight. Two small 'sputs' were heard and the rope twitched twice. Motioning quickly to his compatriots he directed them all one by one up the rope and onto the wall before climbing up himself.

After dragging himself over the top of the wall the man took in the two guards lying face down with their hands cuffed behind them. Nodding at the others, the team split, two of them headed for the gate with their weapons out and the other four made their way deeper into the compound. After going down several darkened corridors and dealing with more guards along the way thanks to their silenced weapons, they came to a door in a slightly less run down part of the building. Listening closely to the voices within, the team prepared themselves and tested the door to see if it was unlocked.

Their leader looked at his watch for a second and then held out his hand, counting down with his fingers from 5, he reached zero and the four of them burst in quartering the room as they went. The silenced weapons whispered again and again as the people around the cages in the middle of the room fell to the floor. As the last person fell, a loud crash echoed through the compound followed by a multitude of police sirens, the team uttered their first words in over 30 minutes.

"Clear"

"Clear"

"Clear"

Bright lights came on and the team all straightened from their crouches removing their hoods and goggles, revealing two men, a young lady and Jericho. Panting the four began to suck in deep breaths as the adrenalin started to seep out of their systems.

"Well done team," came a comment from behind them. From up the corridor the chief inspector approached and clapped them on the back. "That was your best time yet nobody was detected and you took no casualties."

"Thankyou sir," said the leader of the group. "Everyone performed their tasks with no slipups. Even mister Jericho here." The kidnappers all rose from where they lay and rubbed their bodies where the paintballs had hit, in the real assault the team would be using a rapid acting tranquiliser and backup firearms.

"Do you think we're ready?" asked Jericho asked the team leader and chief inspector together.

Wally gestured to his subordinate, "In a word, yes. We've trained for various scenarios and come together well. Now all we need is a target and a go."

Jericho directed his attention back to Wally at this point, "well? Any news on that front yet?"

"We've narrowed it down to three locations now. One in Sheffield, one in Glasgow and a final one in Cardiff. The one in Glasgow is now a private estate and could be it, the Cardiff one is an old prison and abandoned and the one in Sheffield is an old hospital that's being renovated privately. Any of them could be it but I'm leaning towards Cardiff. It's more secluded and there'd be no notice of anything strange there. I have surveillance over all three, but we are going to move you all down to Newport and a staging area there for a quick response."

"Fine. When do we leave?" asked Jeri.

"Now. The van's out the front with the rest of your team."

As Jericho went to leave the Chief Inspector took him by the arm, "All this is for some cats? Is that it?"

Jericho just looked at the man for a moment and simply nodded, before heading out the door.

The group filed out into the courtyard and began their long drive to Newport.

…

The loud ringing of a mobile phone woke Jeri from where he'd been sleeping in the back of the van. It'd been all he could do at the start of the trip, not to open the sliding window and hang his head in the wind. Even now the urge was nearly overwhelming.

The sound cut off as Jeff, the team leader, answered his phone and listened quietly for a moment. "Very well. We'll be there as soon as we can," he said and hung up the phone.

Leaning forward to where a uniformed officer was driving the van, he tapped him on the shoulder, "turn us around and head for Sheffield."

Jericho, now fully awake, asked "what's going on?"

"We've got a positive ID on one of the guys from the video at that Hospital in Sheffield. The pillock was wearing the same jacket and boots as one of the guys in the video. We've got them."

"Where are we now?"

"We've just passed Bristol. We're doing a U-bolt and heading back up the M5. With the bells and whistles going we should be up there in about two and a half hours. Get some more rest. You're gonna need it. I'll be briefing in 90 minutes and we'll hit the ground running." With that Jeff pulled out a tablet and began to pull up briefings and work out a plan of assault.

Jericho just watched for a moment and then decided to follow the advice give and settled back in for some rest.

…

True to his word Jeff had the entire team awake and briefing within two hours. The plan was quite simple and direct, and was one of the scenarios that they'd practiced during their training. There were to be three two man teams doing a quiet assault. Local police were a backup and would be called in at the end to help with the arrests and cleanup. Entry was to be through the wire at a single location and the team would split from there. Surveillance had identified 27 individuals moving around the fence line and inside the buildings with most congregating around the old psychiatric wing. The numbers had been going upwards steadily during the trip but they now believed that everyone had been spotted.

"This individual here." Jeff highlighted the photo of one older man with a well trimmed beard, "seems to be in charge. The others definitely show him some deference and we need to take him as a priority."

They then went over the radio procedures and actions in case a contingency arose. Non-lethal force was encouraged but the team was to protect themselves in any way if required.

A few miles out of Sheffield they turned off the lights and sirens and approached the old hospital looking like one of hundreds of white vans that delivered goods all over England. Stopping briefly in a darkened area where a streetlight had been disabled by one of the surveillance crew earlier the team quickly exited and began their assault as the dusk gave way to full night.

…

About a mile away the cult leader was sitting at a small coffee shop having a light meal. He detested having to eat with the commoners, but it was better by far than having to put up with the unwashed louts that he had to rely on within the hospital. If he happened to overhear one more fart joke, he might just have the offender flogged. Adding to his frustration was the complete lack of reaction from the government. It'd been a week and the inspection stations were still in place at the ports and airports. "Maybe another example was called for?" He thought to himself.

He was finishing a surprisingly good meal as the attention of everyone in the eatery was drawn to the plate glass front. Racing past without lights or sirens were a long line of police vehicles. Sensing trouble the cult leader reached for his phone.

…

Just like in training, the assault had gone without a hitch. All three teams had cleaned out room after room of suspects, making their way around to the old psych wing and their target. Jeff and Jericho were just approaching the last room on the ground floor as the other two pairs cleared the floors above, when a phone rang. The sound cut off as someone answered it and a muffled curse was heard through the door of one of the last rooms on the floor. Immediately a loud siren began to sound and they rushed to the door. As they approached, it swung inwards and a cult member ran into view. Jericho was quick on the trigger but Jeff was simply faster. Two darts hit the man centermass and he fell to the floor unconscious. Unseen to the team mates was the second man behind the first. This man pulled a handgun out of his pants and began to fire it wildly down the corridor before ducking back into the room. Slamming into the door not a second later was Jeff and Jericho. Ducking the randomly aimed shots, Jeff had decided that enough was enough and pulled his pistol. Ducking around the couch he'd been using as cover the policeman dropped the gunman with a single shot to the head.

Clearing the room was the work of a few seconds more and Jeff called in the other pairs for a head count. Quickly adding the figures to their own count Jeff accounted for all bar one suspect. That'd have to be the bloke on the other end of that phone call. "Shit" he thought to himself. "There's still at least one loose."

Opting for more manpower, Jeff got on his radio and called in the backup officers to conduct and full sweep of the premises. Warning them about the possibility of strays, he sent them off to search.

It took about an hour for the sweep to be conducted with the happy result that no further cult members had been found. All the suspects had been restrained including the four poker buddies on the second floor who'd taken that team a bit of creativity to work with their single shot weapons. One unhappy result however was that there'd been no sign of the cats. Jericho knew that they were here somewhere. He could just smell their faint scent but nothing had been found of them.

Whilst the search was being conducted, the chief inspector had arrived and was keeping Jeri company as he became more and more worried.

"Do you have any search and rescue dogs around?" Jeri asked.

"Um, no" replied Wally a little sheepishly. "There's no real call for them out here."

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit."Jeri knew of a solution but He needed the aid of the officer. "Look, Wally. Can you keep a secret?"

"Of course I ca…" Wally began before getting cut off.

"Don't be so blasé about this," admonished Jeri. "This is a secret only known to a very few, chief amongst them being your king and the pope. If you betray it, your own government will probably lock you up in the funny farm, but I can guarantee that you will never be able to leave your house ever again."

"I know more secrets than you think. One more won't make a difference."

"I'll remind you that you said that. Come with me." Jeri led the policeman into an office and shut the door.

"What are you doing?" Wally asked as Jeri began to pull off his clothing.

"You wanted to know why there was so much effort being put into finding my 'friends'?" Jeri's voice was muffled as he pulled his shirt over his head. "Well you're about to find out. There's a whole world out there that you know absolutely nothing about and it winds its way into and around your own more than you can possibly imagine. I am a Pollicle and my friends are Jellicles."

Jeri untied and slipped off his boots and socks.

"I can deal with that, but why the hell are you undressing, and what the hell are Pollicles and Jellicles?" asked Wally.

"I don't want anything to get in the way of the change. Everything will become evident in a moment. If nothing else just remember to follow me afterwards." Jeri went to drop his pants, before looking at the decidedly uncomfortable policeman in the room with him, and turning his back. "Oh and bring along my clothes with you please." He added as an afterthought.

The chief inspector stood there uncomfortably as the now naked man stood there facing away from him. His jaw dropped and he stumbled backwards into a desk as a glow began to form around Jeri. It became brighter and brighter obscuring Jeri before dying down revealing a large white husky standing in his place.

"Wer, wer, werewolf!" Stammered the policeman, earning a scorning look from the dog. "Ok then. Not a werewolf."

Jeri gave the inspector a scathing look before heading to the door. Sensing no movement behind him the pollicle got to the entrance and turned to sit. Even as a pollicle the inspector could read the impatience and the expression on the dogs face.

"Hurry up idiot? Huh? Even I got that one," Wally muttered to himself as he came over and opened the door to follow Jericho through.

Jeri ran through the hallways, nose down to the floor following the now rich scent of the Jellicles. His canine ears could now pick up their faint calls. He knew they were here somewhere, now he just needed to find them. Wally ran along behind him, Jeri knew he'd have to deal with the repercussions of what he revealed in due course but at that moment he really couldn't bring himself to care. They needed his normal form; he could see the writing on the wall. The police were about to cancel their search and with one of the cult still around there was no way he could leave his friends behind if there was even the slightest chance that they were here. He led the human out of the building and down to the rear of the grounds where a copse of woods stood. Heading not for the trees but along their face to the rear fenceline, the dog then turned sharply and ran along a faint path between the wall and the woods. Dodging in and around the trees came Wally and a couple of other officers that he'd run across as they went, until they came to a small shed like building nearly hidden by the undergrowth that had covered it. If it wasn't for the shiny new door, you'd have sworn it was just a small hill in the forest. The cats scent led straight to the entry, and Jeri shot unerringly towards it. Reaching it he stopped and whined, scratching at the handle. Wally was a moment behind and took it in one hand and turned it.

"Dammit. It's locked," he barked in frustration. "You two. Kick it down."

The trailing officers did as they were ordered and with a sharp double kick the door burst inwards. Within was a small entryway and two more doorways leading off to what must be other rooms in the small hovel.

One of the officers reached for one of the other doors before being rudely shoved out of the way by Jericho who intersposed himself before the copper.

"Just ease the door open and let the dog go first" ordered Wally.

Jericho didn't waste a second. As soon as the door was cracked he wormed himself in. Kicking the door closed behind him he rejoiced. Standing in several cages heaped upon the floor were the figure of the missing Jellicles.

"Jericho?" questioned Munk.

"In the flesh. Quickly. I need to you all to transform back to cats. I've got some humans outside staging a rescue. Are we all here?"

"No. No we're not," hissed Etcetera. "Misto is still missing."

"Ok then he must be in the other room. Hold here and let the humans get you out of the cages. I'll go get Mr Sparkypants…" With that Jericho nosed open the door and pushed on it until it was all the way back. The two police officers took in the cages at a glance and rushed over to begin the rescue.

Wally went to join them before feeling a tug on his pants. Looking down he saw Jeri who released his hold and flicked his nose towards the other door. Getting the idea, Wally stole over and cracked the door to the second cell. Jeri led the way in and then pushed the door closed behind the inspector. Turning to scan the space before him the first thing the pollicle saw was a slight bedraggled figure chained to a water pipe in a tiled corner. The two rushed over and began to removed the numerous bindings, chains and finally the hood and metal club like gauntlets.

Blinking in pain at the dim light Mistofollees squinted at his rescuers. "Jeri? Is that you? Who is that?"

"Wallis Everett, chief inspector of Scotland Yard," Wally introduced himself. "So these are your friends?" he asked Jeri.

"Yes Wally." Jeri replied, before turning back to the Jellicle before him.

"Hey Misto. You're all safe and free!"

…

**Well that's it for another chapter. Not a huge amount of Jellicle fare here but the next few should make up for it before the end. Our friends have made it through their ordeals but the story is not over yet. Remember that the cults leader is still out there somewhere…**


End file.
